Out of the Frying Pan
by foreveranna
Summary: When your past and your present collide, there's only one thing to do: survive. Which is difficult to do in the middle of space. (Second story in "The Callahan Chronicles," an OC-driven series.)
1. Chapter 1

1.

_"Captain's Starlog, May 17__th__ 2156: Today is our last day on Earth for some time. After visiting friends and family, we are returning to the Enterprise today. We'll also be bringing a new crew member with us from Jacksonville, Ensign Sara Callahan Rhodes. Ensign Rhodes is a nurse, and came highly recommended by our own Doctor Phlox. If the notes in her file are any indication, she'll fit in well with the rest of the crew."_

"It's time to go, ma'am."

Sara Callahan Rhodes looked up from checking her belongings and turned pale. She had been dreading this moment all day, and now it was here: the moment when she would be leaving her family and joining the crew of the Enterprise. The assignment was one that she previously only dreamed of, never expecting that the prestigious assignment would actually fall to her. But it had, and she had no other choice but to leave now. The Enterprise wouldn't be able to pick her up for months, if that, if she didn't leave with the crew now.

"Thank you," she said. She finished checking her belongings and turned to her family. She bid her parents and her in laws goodbye first, and then turned to her children. They stared up at her, clearly trying their hardest not to cry, which only succeeded in making Sara tear up herself.

Her children. The most important things in the world to her, the reasons she had joined Starfleet in the first place. She hated to leave them, especially for such a long time with no guarantee of returning in one piece, or at all. Charlie and Jimmy had just turned nine-nearly teenagers-and understood the dangers inherent in a Starfleet career, but little Elizabeth was not yet three, and all she understood was that Mommy was going away for a long time and wouldn't be able to read her stories or tuck her in at night.

"OK boys, now do you remember what I told you?" Sara asked, trying to keep her voice even.

Charlie nodded. "Take care of Lizzie," he said, holding his baby sister's hand tightly in his. "And listen to Grandma Jennie and Nana Katie and Grandpa James and Pappy Alexander."

"And what else?"

"Behave ourselves," Jimmy chimed in. "And do our homework and go to soccer practice. And be helpful."

"And the last thing?"

"Take care Bilbo!" Elizabeth piped up, an expression on her face that said she was clearly proud of herself for remembering what her mother said about their somewhat new dog.

Sara smiled at her children. "Good work, all three of you," she said, ruffling Charlie's hair. She heard footsteps behind her and turned around. She smiled as she recognized Doctor Phlox, the Enterprise's doctor.

"Good to see you again, Doctor," Sara said. "And I can't thank you enough for the recommendation. I never expected it…"

"Despite what you seem to think, Sara, you make a strong impression on people," the Denobulan said. "And you were the first person I thought of when Captain Archer informed me I would be getting a nurse. I enjoyed working with you in St. Augustine, and I look forward to working with you again." He looked behind Sara and grinned. "Ah, I see the children are here! I haven't seen your boys since they were quite a bit smaller."

Sara motioned her children forward. "Come say hi to the doctor, kids." The boys came forward with no hesitation; they'd met Phlox before. But little Elizabeth stayed right where she was, thumb in her mouth, eyes wide. "It's OK, sweetie. He's a friend of Mommy." Elizabeth hesitantly toddled forward and clung to Sara's leg with her free arm.

Phlox knelt on the ground so he was just about eye level with Elizabeth. "You've never seen a Denobulan before, have you?" he asked. Elizabeth shook her head. "Well, I can tell you, I've been told I'm quite friendly. My name is Phlox."

Elizabeth took her thumb out of her mouth. "My name Elizabeth," she said.

"It's very nice to meet you, Elizabeth. How old are you?" Elizabeth held up two fingers. "Two years old. My goodness, you're almost an adult!"

Elizabeth giggled. "Wanna see funny face?" she asked. When Phlox nodded, Elizabeth stuck her fingers in her mouth and pulled out the sides, sticking her tongue out at the same time.

Phlox laughed. "That IS a funny face," he said. "Would you like to see what some Humans think is my funny face?" Elizabeth nodded, and Sara braced herself for the worst. She knew exactly what Phlox intended to do, and it wasn't necessarily something a two year old would find funny, if the adult reactions to it were any indication. Sure enough, Phlox arranged his face in the famous-and terrifying, depending on who was being asked-Denobulan smile. Sara waited for her daughter's telltale scream of terror.

Her worries, however, were completely unfounded. Like her older brothers, Elizabeth found the Denobulan's smile hysterically funny, and she clapped her hands happily at it. "Again!" she said, squealing with laughter as Phlox obliged her. "I like you," she said with a nod. "You funny!"

"It looks like she's following in her brothers' footsteps," Phlox said happily. "There aren't many Humans who find my smile amusing. In any case, we better be going. Captain Archer is waiting for us."

Sara hugged her children and the rest of her family one more time, then picked up her duffle bags and followed Phlox to the shuttlepod, trying for all the world to look like she wasn't about to break down and cry. Suddenly, she heard a cry of "MOMMY!" from behind her. She turned, dropped her duffle bags, and picked up Elizabeth in one last hug as the little girl ran towards her.

"It's all right, baby," she whispered, cuddling her daughter close and rubbing her back. "Mommy's going to be home soon. You be a good girl for your grandparents and your big brothers." After a few moments, she put her daughter down and nudged her towards her older brothers.

As she picked up her duffle bags and turned around to continue the walk to the shuttlepod, her eyes met a pair so familiar she would know them anywhere, and for the first time in at least a decade and a half, Sara found herself very nearly face to face with a very unhappy-looking Trip Tucker.

"Shit," she muttered under her breath. "I wasn't expecting this…"


	2. Chapter 2

2.

Sara looked around the mess hall and winced. She had been on Enterprise exactly one week, but she still hadn't really spoken to many people besides Phlox and the occasional patient. She carried her tray and her book over to an empty table in the corner of the mess hall and sat down, happy to have a few moments to herself before she went back to Sickbay to feed the slugs, a task that she didn't really like, but was happy to take over if it meant that she was being helpful.

Sara smiled to herself as she pulled her book out from under her tray; it was a leather-bound collection of Sherlock Holmes stories that had belonged to her great-grandfather Ger, and had been given to her on Christmas by her grandmother Rosa shortly before she passed away. "You love a good mystery," her grandmother had said, trying to keep a wriggling Elizabeth still on her knee. "And I've been wanting to give this to one of you kids for the longest time. Your brother and sister each have one thing that belonged to your great-grandparents, and it was only fair you had something that belonged to each of them too." Her great-grandmother's wedding ring, her other family heirloom, was safe in a jewelry box at her mother's home back on Earth, but Sara had refused to leave without her great-grandfather's book.

She opened the book to a page near the middle, continuing from where she had left off before she'd gone to bed, and started reading as she ate. She snickered to herself briefly as she remembered how her mother had said it was a bad habit and had shared some less-than-happy words with her grandmother Rosa, whose only response had been to shrug and point out that at least Sara was reading. She was in the midst of one of the more engrossing mysteries when she felt something bump against her leg.

Sara closed the book and looked down at her leg to see what had hit her, and smiled when she saw a beagle staring up at her and wagging its tail. "Hello there," she said, holding her hand out to the beagle. The beagle stuck its nose out and sniffed her hand tentatively, and then barked happily. A voice above her said "Porthos, that's enough." Sara looked up and saw that the voice belonged to none other than her captain, Jonathan Archer.

"Um, hello sir," Sara stammered out. "He…he wasn't doing any harm." Porthos barked as if to agree with Sara and rubbed against her leg. Sara couldn't help but grin at him. He was adorable.

"At ease, Ensign," Archer said with a smile. "No need to be nervous. You a dog person, Ensign?"

Sara nodded. "My children got a dog for Christmas," she said with a smile, thinking of the looks on her children's faces when the dog had come bounding into the living room Christmas morning. "And my in-laws had one when I was living with them in California. They had a collie named Frodo that the boys pretty much adopted and considered theirs."

"And what do your kids have?" Archer asked, sitting down at the table. He hadn't gotten the opportunity to chat with the newest member of his crew yet, and dogs were as good a topic of conversation as any. Porthos lay down under the table in between his master's feet as if he were listening too.

"A St. Bernard," Sara answered. "I have two boys, and they're fairly rambunctious, so I wanted to get a dog that could romp around just as much as they do, but also would be gentle with my little girl. I let the kids pick her name, though."

"What did they name her?"

Sara laughed. "They named her "Bilbo," after a character in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and "The Hobbit," of course," she said, shaking her head in amusement. "My father in law read the books to them and they loved them." She grinned down at Porthos. "Ironically enough, he was starting the boys on "The Three Musketeers" before I left."

Archer laughed too. "And I'm assuming your children don't care that "Bilbo" is a boy's name."

"They couldn't care if they tried," Sara replied. "My son Charlie said that it was the perfect name because his little sister can't say "Galadriel" yet."

"He sounds like a good big brother. How many kids do you have?"

"Three. Twin boys who just turned nine on the 7th and a daughter who is going to be three in August."

"And they're staying with your family while you're here, correct?"

Sara nodded. "My parents are taking care of them. My in laws moved to St. Augustine to be closer to them, since my husband is…" she trailed off and looked down at her food. Though it had been over three years, she still wanted to cry every time she thought of her husband and Elizabeth.

"I know. It was in your file. I'm so sorry. I understand you and Commander Tucker's sister were friends as well."

"We were. After she and my husband died, I got permission from her mother to name my little girl after her. She would have been her godmother anyways." Sara felt a soft thud on her feet and looked down to see Porthos resting on them, almost nuzzling her legs. She chuckled. "He's a smart one. I think he knows I was feeling a little sad."

"You're worried about your kids."

"Well, sir, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't. This is the first time I'll be away from them for longer than six months. I thought the six months of officer basics was going to be torture, but I don't know how I'm going to survive being away from them for this long. I wasn't away at all when my sons were little, but I was away for a good bit of Elizabeth's second year alive and I nearly missed her second birthday coming home from training."

Jon smiled at the young woman. He knew she was nervous, and it seemed like there was a bit of a shyness about her, but he also knew from Phlox and the stories he'd heard in Jacksonville that once she opened up, Sara Callahan Rhodes could be one of the nicest people a person could ever meet. "Everyone on this ship has someone that they're missing, that they worry about, whether they're on Earth or another ship," he said, thinking of his fiancée Captain Erika Hernandez. "The first few months are difficult, especially when it's your first assignment. But after a while, you realize that somehow, you've managed to make a few friends, and it doesn't seem as bad as it did before. Eventually, it becomes second nature. And if you really miss your family and friends, you can always write to them. Tell them about life on the Enterprise. Just don't tell them anything classified."

Sara grinned. "I thought that was understood, Captain."

"Good answer," Archer said as he stood to leave. "Well, Porthos and I have some rounds to make, so we'll leave you to your book."

"Thank you, Captain," Sara said. "And, um…if I might…I was wondering…"

"Yes?"

"If I'm feeling especially homesick, and you don't need him, and we're not in the middle of a major crisis…could I borrow Porthos?"

Archer smiled at the young ensign. "I don't see why not."

Sara beamed. "Thank you, sir," she said. "And thank you for the advice. I really appreciate it." She smiled down at her book as the captain walked away. She'd heard Jonathan Archer was easy to get along with, but it was nice to have first-hand experience of it. She was just about to start her book again when she felt another set of eyes on her. She looked up and saw a young woman with black hair standing over the table. "Hello," Sara said.

"Hi," the young woman said with a smile. "You're the new nurse, right?"

Sara nodded. "I've only been here a week," she said. "Sara Callahan Rhodes."

"Hoshi Sato, Communications," the young woman replied. "I couldn't help but notice you were over here alone. Mind if I join you?"

Sara motioned towards the empty seats at the table. "Plenty of room," she said with a grin.

Across the mess hall, two more sets of eyes watched as Hoshi sat down across from Sara and the two struck up a conversation. "So, how long have you known her?" Malcolm Reed asked.

"She and Elizabeth were best friends," Trip Tucker said, shaking his head. "Known her since she was about three years old. Her family lived next door. Got a sister my age and a brother same age as my brother."

"You don't seem too happy to see her," Malcolm observed. He smiled a little as Sara and Hoshi started laughing about something. "She seems like she's quite nice, and Phlox has been raving about her medical skills for a solid week."

"Been too long," Trip said, trying to ignore the conversation. "We don't have much in common now that Elizabeth's gone."

"I would think the polite thing to do would be to say hello at the very least. She's been here a week and all you've done is glare at her. What has she done wrong?"

"Too cocky."

"I believe the old analogy is something about a pot and a kettle…"

"Come on, Malcolm," Trip said, starting to get a little annoyed. "She's only thirty years old and she's waltzing around the damn ship like she's the best addition we've ever had. Sure she's got the experience, but experience doesn't make you any better than the rest of us. Just means you've done your job longer."

"That's odd," Malcolm said, studying his plate to make sure nothing was moving. With Chef, you never could tell what you would get some days. "I didn't get that from her at all. She was quite kind when I went to get some decongestants from Doctor Phlox the other day, and very efficient besides. And oddly enough, she doesn't seem to be frightened when the good doctor smiles. I don't think you're giving her a fair chance."

"Well, life ain't fair, now is it?"

"Life may be unfair, but that doesn't mean you have to be."

Trip stood up and grabbed his tray from the table. "I gotta get back to my babies," he said. "Thanks for lunch." As he stalked out of the mess hall, he walked past Sara and Hoshi, who appeared to be showing each other pictures on a PADD. Out of the corner of his eye, he could have sworn he saw Sara's expression change briefly to something just on the right side of wistful and then back again.


	3. Chapter 3

3.

"And how are you today Fuzzy?" Sara asked as she carefully opened the door to the Pyrithian bat's habitat. She kept close to the door in case the bat decided she wanted to make a break for it and escape. Phlox had told her that the bat had gotten out a few times, and to be very careful when she was feeding her. The bat did escape once, on Sara's second day in Sickbay, but had decided to stay perched on Sara's shoulder, much to Phlox's amusement. "You have a way with animals as well as children," he'd commented, and put Sara in charge of feeding the bat as well as her other duties. It wasn't uncommon for the bat to be seen perched on Sara's shoulder as she fed some of the more docile creatures that Phlox kept around Sickbay.

"I think she needs a name," Sara had said on her fourth day in Sickbay. "Since you keep her as a pet, that is."

"I've often considered naming her, but I've not been able to come up with a name that doesn't make her bite my fingers," Phlox said with a chuckle. It took six tries and six bites to Sara's index finger before the bat chose Fuzzy as her name.

Fuzzy hopped towards Sara and made a little sound that Sara had decided was her method of saying hello. "That's good," Sara said, grinning at the bat. She held out her left hand and said "Come on Fuzzy, dinner time."

Fuzzy took careful regard of the moth larvae in Sara's hand for about five seconds before she hopped to the edge of the cage and started eating. "Good girl," Sara said, gently petting the bat with her free hand as Fuzzy ate. Behind her, Sara could hear Phlox coming back into Sickbay. "How's Ensign Taylor doing?"

"Much better," Phlox answered. Sara could hear the telltale sounds of instruments being set on a table behind her. "His skin is no longer purple, and he's stopped speaking Swedish. At least, I think it's Swedish. Hoshi has yet to confirm whether it was Swedish or just regular gibberish."

Sara chuckled and pulled her hand away from Fuzzy, who had finished eating. "Well, at least he's getting better, poor guy." She closed the door to the habitat and locked it.

"Did she eat all the larvae this time?" Phlox asked.

Sara nodded. "She was very hungry today," she answered. "She didn't seem to want any snow beetles, though. Seems to be on a bit of a moth larvae kick." She walked over to a counter and cleaned the remaining bits of larvae and bat spit off her hands, then threw away the cleaning cloth.

"And the slugs are fed?"

"Yup, slugs fed, Fuzzy fed, inventory taken and reorganized," Sara said, ticking off the tasks on her hands. "I was thinking of finishing up some medical reports in here for a while, if that's not a problem."

"No problem at all," Phlox said. "But I would have thought you'd want to go relax for a bit. Didn't Hoshi invite you to Movie Night?"

"She did, but I don't feel like going," Sara said with a shake of her head. "Not tonight, anyways. It's not a good night." She quickly assembled the PADDs for the medical reports and started working on the first one in the stack.

Phlox studied her for a moment or two. "How many years would it have been?" he asked.

Sara put the PADD down gently and looked at Phlox, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Eleven," she said quietly. "It would have been eleven years today. We were a few months away from our eight year anniversary when Andrew was killed."

Phlox walked over and put a comforting hand on Sara's shoulder. "And what did you tell me was his favorite thing about you?"

Sara smiled. "My laugh," she said without hesitation. "Andrew was always doing something to make me laugh, because he said it was what made him fall in love with me."

"Wedding anniversaries are days to celebrate," Phlox said. "And even though your husband is no longer alive, I see no reason why you shouldn't be happy today. After all, without your husband, you would not have the three wonderful children you have now. There was always the possibility, of course, that if you'd married someone else, you would still have three children, but they wouldn't have the same personalities and looks that your sons and daughter do now."

"This is true," Sara said with a nod. "And I love my children, even though the boys like to run through the house like a tornado and Elizabeth occasionally refuses to stop saying the naughty word she learned from her uncle JJ the last time he was home." Sara made a mental note to find some way of repaying her brother for that the next time they were both home.

Phlox smiled down at her. "I think that today, it's completely appropriate to celebrate the happiness that your marriage brought you, if only for a short time. You have three living, breathing reminders of that happiness at home, and since you're away, you should do something here that would bring you some happiness."

"Even if it's drinking a bottle of bourbon in my room all by myself?" Sara asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"I would advise against that, actually. I don't think that spending half the night vomiting would bring you any happiness."

Sara laughed. "You win, Phlox," she said, saving her work and putting the PADDs to one side. "Movie Night it is." Almost as if on cue, the doors to Sickbay opened and Hoshi walked in.

"So, Sara, we still on for Movie night?"

Sara smiled. "Of course!" she said, waving goodbye to Phlox and walking out of Sickbay with Hoshi. "What's playing tonight?"

"An old French movie, subtitles and all," Hoshi said, a dreamy look on her face. "I love it when we get the subtitled movies. We don't get them very often."

"Ooh, subtitles!" Sara said, sounding a little excited herself. "What's the movie called?"

"Le Roi de Couer."

"The King of Hearts!" Sara said excitedly. "Hey, I translated on my own!"

"That was easy, though."

"Not if you haven't taken French since 8th grade it isn't!"

The two ensigns laughed and walked into the room where Movie Night was taking place. Malcolm saw them and waved them over to where he was sitting beside a very grumpy-looking Trip. Hoshi sat next to Malcolm, with Sara on her other side.

"Evening, ladies," Malcolm said with a smile. "Ready for the movie?"

"Definitely," Hoshi said. She turned to Sara and squeezed her hand. "Don't worry, I've heard this one is hilarious."

"In need of a laugh, Ensign Rhodes?" Malcolm asked.

"Wedding anniversary," Sara answered shortly. "My eleventh. Phlox advised I do something other than drink an entire bottle of bourbon alone in my quarters."

Malcolm laughed. "A good idea," he said. "Commander Tucker and I have each done that before with disastrous results."

"Maybe the bourbon would have been better," Trip muttered.

Sara looked hurt, a look that quickly disappeared but was something both Hoshi and Malcolm took note of. "Depends on the age," she said briefly. "And I doubt Chef has any left but for cooking if you and Lieutenant Reed keep drinking it all."

"Seems to me that there isn't much to celebrate, though. Since your husband's been dead for the last 3 years, anyways."

Sara's face turned into an icy mask at that remark, but she tried to keep calm. This was technically a commanding officer of hers, and any response that was less than professional could result in a great deal of trouble for her, something that she did not need. "He gave me three children I wouldn't have had otherwise," she said quietly. "And for nearly 8 years of my life, we were very happy together. Doctor Phlox sees no reason why I shouldn't celebrate a time when I was happy, and neither do I." She grinned a little. "Besides, my grandmother Rosa used to celebrate her and my grandfather's wedding anniversary every year by going to Las Vegas for a week to see the old Thunder from Down Under troupe. I really don't see how this is any worse."

Hoshi giggled. "Wait, your grandmother would celebrate her anniversary by seeing male strippers?"

Sara nodded and laughed a little. "She always told my father that even though she couldn't touch, there was no reason she couldn't look. You would have liked her, I think. A lot of people did."

"She sounds like she had a lot of spirit," Malcolm said.

Sara nodded. "Oh, believe me, she did. Everyone in the family says I'm the most like her in spirit as well as looks. I'm the first child in a generation to have red hair and brown eyes in the family, just like she did. She passed away in February." Out of the corner of her eye, Sara could swear she saw Trip's face fall just a tiny bit. It was mean of her, but she took some pleasure in knowing that even though he apparently hated her, he still had some warm feelings in him.

Before any response could be given on any front, the lights dimmed, and the movie started. And for a few hours, Sara was genuinely happy. She decided that she would need to listen to Phlox in matters of recreation a little more often in the future.


	4. Chapter 4

4.

"You need to talk to him about it."

Malcolm winced at the harshness of Hoshi's tone. She was angry, that much was obvious. "I don't know what good talking to him will do, Hoshi."

"Sara's done nothing wrong, Malcolm," Hoshi said, looking over at her friend. Sara was sitting in her usual corner of the mess hall, laughing at something Travis was saying. "Me and Travis and Phlox are basically the only friends she has on Enterprise, and I know that's because Commander Tucker has been saying things about her."

"Hoshi-"

Hoshi put up a hand to stop Malcolm. "You saw how he acted at Movie Night a month ago," she said quietly. "It's only gotten worse since then. Sara doesn't like to talk about it, but every time she runs into him, Trip's rude to her. I had to get it out of Phlox because she wouldn't say anything, but it's really starting to hurt her feelings."

Malcolm was shocked. "I thought he was just in a bad mood," he mused. "Because of the engine parts not arriving on schedule."

"A lot of things have arrived on-schedule since then, and he's still doing it. You're his best friend. Talk to him about it."

As they turned around, they watched Sara get up from the table and throw her trash away. At the garbage, she accidentally bumped into Trip, and while they couldn't see his face, they could see Sara's, which started falling fast even as she was profusely apologizing. Finally she turned and walked quickly out of the mess hall, clearly upset.

"Wow," Malcolm muttered under his breath.

"Yeah, it's been like that for a month now," Hoshi said.

Malcolm nodded at Hoshi and walked over to the garbage. "Any damage done?" he asked.

"Stupid ensign," Trip muttered. "Didn't spill anything on me, but doesn't bother to look where she's going. Happens again, I'll…"

"Behave like a tosser again?"

Trip looked at his friend in shock. "A what now?"

"A tosser. A wanker. A prick. A ratbag. An arsehole. Take your pick, Trip, because all are appropriate descriptors at the moment."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Trip said, turning and walking out of the mess hall. Malcolm followed him, determined to keep his word to Hoshi.

"I'm talking about your behavior towards Ensign Rhodes," Malcolm said. That did it. Trip stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at his friend. "You don't say anything right now. You just listen. I knew you weren't giving her a fair shake her first day here, and the way you treated her at Movie Night last month was abominable, but I put that down to your mood over the engine parts. But apparently, Hoshi knows about quite a bit that I don't. And you know why?"

"Because Ensign Rhodes can't keep her mouth shut?"

"No," Malcolm said, now a little angry himself. "Hoshi had to get it out of Phlox because Ensign Rhodes HAS kept her mouth shut and refused to tell Hoshi what's upsetting her even when it's clear she's unhappy. It's almost as if she's trying to protect someone, though god knows said person doesn't seem to be worth protecting."

Trip shook his head. "You don't get it, Malcolm."

"That's right, I don't. So explain it to me. What has she done that warrants this treatment?"

"She's charmed, that's what she is," Trip said angrily. "Somehow, she's managed to survive everything and get what she wants, and I hate that. It's not fair."

"I do believe you're the one who told me that life isn't fair," Malcolm said frostily. "And I stand by my prior comment as well. You don't have to be unfair to her on top of life's unfairness." He stalked off, leaving Trip looking bewildered and slightly angry in the hallway. He almost walked right past Hoshi and Sara without seeing them, he was so upset.

Sara looked unsettled. "Hoshi, I told you not to say anything," she said quietly. "I don't want to get in trouble."

"You won't be getting in any trouble," Malcolm said. "I can promise you that. You've done nothing wrong. That bloody wanker Tucker, on the other hand…"

Before he could say another word, Sara let out what could only be described as a bark of laughter. She quickly covered her hands with her mouth and looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant," she squeaked out. "I've never heard anyone outside of my Welsh cousins say something like that before."

Malcolm blinked. "You're Welsh?"

"My late grandfather was Welsh, so I'm a quarter," Sara said, recovering her composure. "We have a lot of Welsh cousins who occasionally come to visit, and they swear so much sometimes I have to send my children out of the room. It's hilarious, but Elizabeth's already learned one swear from my brother, so I don't want her picking up any more. In any case, I don't want anyone getting into trouble on my account."

"The way he's been treating you is awful," Hoshi stated. "I really think you should talk to him about it. Malcolm apparently gave him hell just now, so maybe he'll be willing to listen to you."

"I doubt it, but thanks, both of you," Sara said.

"If he tries to ignore you, make him listen," Malcolm said. "I don't even think I got the full story about what's wrong, so I couldn't fully make him listen to me."

"Oh, believe me, I have a good idea of what's wrong," Sara said grimly. "But I think it should stay between the commander and myself."

"Then go find him and talk some bloody sense into him," Malcolm said. He took a pen out of his uniform and wrote directions to Trip's quarters on Sara's hand. "There you go. Off with you now. Let's get this sorted out before someone ends up getting punched in the face."

Sara laughed and started walking away. She wasn't sure what she would find when she reached her destination, but she knew that the approaching confrontation was something that couldn't be avoided any longer. She knew exactly why Trip was mad at her; she'd known from the moment she set foot on the Enterprise. Malcolm and Hoshi were right; it would be better to get everything out in the open.

It took her a half hour to find Trip's quarters. The directions were fairly straightforward, but for some reason, Sara kept getting lost. She figured that somewhere in her subconscious, she was doing it on purpose to avoid the fight, but she couldn't prove it. Finally, she reached her destination and knocked on the door. A slightly slurred voice inside told her to come in.

Sara opened the door and walked into Trip's room, closing the door behind her with a loud slam. Trip looked up from the open tequila bottle in his hand and glared. "The hell do you want?" he asked, clearly tipsy, if not yet fully drunk.

"I want you to say it," Sara said calmly.

"Say what?"

"I'm not stupid, Trip. Just say it."

"I'm a commander now. You gotta treat me with respect."

"You're also halfway through a bottle of tequila singlehandedly."

Trip looked at the half-empty bottle. "Well damn. How'd that happen?"

"We both know why you've been treating me like garbage," Sara said, her angry glare a near-perfect mirror of his. "So just say it. Get it out in the open."

Trip stared at Sara for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, he said it. "I wish you had died instead of Elizabeth."

Sara could feel the tears filling her eyes. "You know what? Sometimes I feel the same way," she said through gritted teeth. "I lost not only my best friend, but the father of all three of my children. My daughter will never know her father. But sometimes, the three of them aren't enough to keep me from thinking that I'm the one who should have died instead of Elizabeth."

"At least you got to keep your Elizabeth."

Sara looked shocked. "What do you mean?"

"I had an Elizabeth too. A little baby girl. She was precious as hell. Found out she'd been engineered as a piece of goddamn propaganda to show why humans shouldn't breed outside the species, but I loved her all the same. Something went wrong when they made her, though, and she died. So it doesn't seem fair that you get to keep yours and I don't. Seems to me that maybe you should have a little more pain than you've gotten."

Sara's eyes blazed with rage. "I'm sorry that you lost your daughter," she said. "That's something that no parent should ever have to go through. But I swear to god, Trip Tucker, if you wish the same fate on my innocent little girl, I WILL make sure it's the last goddamn thing you ever do."

Trip wobbled to his feet. "You can't threaten me!"

"Watch me, asshole!" Sara spat. "All these years I've felt incredibly guilty for not staying in Panama City with my husband and Elizabeth, and it took me a long damn time to realize that there was nothing I could have done. And just when I've finally thought that I was past the guilt, I come here, and you've done nothing but make me feel just as awful as the day it happened. I refuse to let you make me feel guilty for something I couldn't control and for my beautiful little girl."

"You had no right to name her that," Trip yelled. "You weren't family!"

"I had EVERY right to name her Elizabeth!" Sara yelled back. "Elizabeth was going to be her godmother, just like she was godmother to my sons, one of whom is named after you, I might add. And your mother seemed to think it was a lovely tribute when I asked her!"

"Oh, and how long after the baby was born was that? Because you sure as hell didn't talk to her right after Elizabeth died! I know that for a fact!"

"I was on bed-rest, you asshole! I was so shocked and in so much pain at the loss of your sister AND MY HUSBAND that I nearly lost my daughter. The doctors in California? Yeah, they decided I wasn't able to have a phone or a TV in my room while I was on bed-rest because they didn't want me to have any additional stress. Ask them! I could give you their names! They could tell you how I fucking BEGGED to have a phone so I could call your mother THE DAY ELIZABETH DIED to let her know how sorry I was. They didn't let me off bed-rest for TWO MONTHS, but as soon as I was released, you know who I called? YOUR MOTHER. SHE gave me permission to name my daughter after your sister. She was even one of the first people to see her after she was born. YOUR MOTHER SEEMED TO BE FINE WITH THE WHOLE THING."

Sara was so angry she was shaking. She didn't notice she was shaking, nor did she notice that Trip's expression had changed from anger to something that almost resembled remorse. "I know that I have an unreasonable expectation for things to be fair. It's a family trait. My great-grandmother was the same way. But I never expected that the worst unfairness would come from someone I'd known for over a decade. Elizabeth would be completely disgusted with you if she could see you right now. You're acting like a petulant child. So now I'm going to walk away, because at least one of us should leave this argument with our dignity intact."

Sara turned and walked out the door, slamming it behind her. As she slammed the door shut, she could hear Trip start to say something, but she didn't care. She choked back tears as she walked to the Captain's Ready Room and when she was admitted, she calmly asked if she could borrow Porthos. When the request was granted, she hurried back to her quarters as fast as she could, Porthos cradled gently in her arms.

She was able to get inside and close the door behind her before she finally started sobbing.


	5. Chapter 5

5.

"Get ready, Sara," Phlox said with a serious look on his face. "We're getting an influx of wounded from Alterra VII."

Sara nodded and started preparing Sickbay. Since war had been officially declared with the Romulans, they'd been entering more and more battles, and the wounded and dying had been in the hundreds, with an expectation that the number would climb into the six figures. She and Phlox were operating under tight time constraints, and in Sara's case, very little sleep. It was a wonder to Sara that she hadn't caused any further damage to patients.

Seconds later, Sickbay was full of wounded ensigns, lieutenants, and MACOs. Sara rushed from person to person, trying to bandage up this wound and that laceration, occasionally just giving them something to stop the pain so the patient, beyond all help, could die peacefully.

But there was one patient who seemed to be highly unruly. "Ensign Connors, calm down," Sara said in her quietest voice. "You need to rest."

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND," the ensign shouted, his eyes wild. "YOU'RE NOT REAL. YOU CAN'T SEE HIM." His flailing hands made contact with Sara's left cheek and dragged, leaving a large scratch down the side of her face.

"Damnit!" Sara swore, quickly putting her hand to her face. "Am I real enough now, Ensign?"

The ensign looked at her strangely. "You are real," he said before he passed out. Sara began bandaging his arm when the doors to Sickbay opened and Archer and Trip came in, a seemingly enraged Travis kicking and screaming between them.

"What's happened to him?" Phlox asked.

"We were hoping you could tell us," Jon said. "He started yelling about someone he couldn't see, and then scratched Trip down the side of his face."

Sara's head immediately went up and she turned around. "Captain, did he ask if you and Commander Tucker were real at all?"

"He did. Why?"

Sara motioned to Ensign Connors. "Because he did the same thing before he scratched me and passed out." She turned her head to the side so that Jon and Trip could see her scratch. "It appears that the commander and I match now."

"Did Ensign Connors and Travis have any contact on the surface?" Phlox asked.

Trip nodded. "Same away team," he replied. "Connors got himself lost, and when we found him, he kept lookin' around him like someone was chasing him. Lost track of him and Travis when the firefight started, but when we found Travis, his hand was scratched up pretty good."

"So Ensign Connors may be our Patient Zero," Sara mused. "And it can apparently be spread by lacerating the skin, which means…" She stopped dead and touched the scratch on her face, then looked at Phlox in horror as he reached the same conclusion. "Oh no," she whispered.

"Which means that you and Trip have most likely been infected as well."

Sara shook her head. "We may have some time," she said. "Commander, how long was it between when the firefight started and when you found Travis?"

"Twenty minutes at the most," Trip answered, watching as Phlox loaded the now-unconscious Travis onto a cot next to Ensign Connors.

Sara sighed. "Not a lot of time," she said. "Phlox, I'm going to take blood samples from both of them to see if there's anything I can find there. Commander, I'm also going to need one from you, if that's not too much trouble. And as much as I hate to do it, I'm recommending quarantine for anyone who got scratched by either of these two."

Phlox nodded. "I agree. This way, if we find out that it mutates somehow and can be spread through simple skin to skin contact rather than lacerations, we have it somewhat contained. Get the blood samples and work on them as long as you can, Sara, and then you and Commander Tucker are to go into quarantine together immediately."

Sara flinched at little at the order, but knew she couldn't avoid it. She started with the blood samples from Ensign Connors and Travis, and when those were safely in the blood analysis machine, she grabbed a third needle and turned to Trip. "Sleeve up, Commander. Let's get this over with."

Trip rolled up his sleeve and held his right arm out. He watched closely as Sara attempted to bring a vein up and grinned a little at her frustration when she couldn't. "Having some trouble there, Ensign?"

"Your veins are as stubborn as you are, sir," Sara said, studying Trip's arm and trying various veins. "I may have to try your left arm. If that doesn't work, I may have to use the back of your hand." Finally, a vein came up enough for Sara to get the blood sample. "A little pinch," she said, sticking the needle into Trip's arm.

Trip winced. "A little?" he asked. "That didn't feel like a little."

"Don't be a baby," Sara said, pulling the needle out and covering the spot where it had gone in with a piece of gauze and some medical tape. "There, all done. Unfortunately for you, Commander, I'm fresh out of lollipops." She grabbed a fourth needle and loaded it, then brought up the vein on the side of her left arm and stuck the needle in, drawing her own blood for the final sample.

"I'd never be able to do that," Trip said in awe.

Sara loaded the final sample into the machine and started it. "It's a nurse thing," she said, taping the gauze into place. "It'll be no more than ten minutes for all four samples to be analyzed." She suddenly felt like someone was watching her and turned around quickly, but no one was there.

"You OK?" Trip asked.

Sara nodded. "It's nothing," she said, lying through her teeth. "Just thought someone was watching me."

Phlox overheard and looked up with concern. "Maybe you need to go to quarantine a little sooner than you thought?" he said gently.

Sara shook her head, determined to stay out as long as she could. "No, not now," she said. "I have the samples in the analyzer looking for possible abnormal cells in the blood that could point to a cause. They're done in less than ten minutes. I'm not going in until they're ready and I've had a chance to look at them."

There was a slight thud, and Sara turned around quickly. Trip was leaning against the table near Fuzzy's habitat. He looked up at Phlox and Sara with a weak grin. "I'll go first," he said. "I thought I saw someone on the table here…"

"There are comfortable clothes and a plastic bag for your uniform waiting for you in the quarantine room, Trip," Phlox said. "We'll be taking the uniforms for analysis as well."

Trip walked down the hallway in the direction of the room Phlox had designated for quarantine and couldn't help but laugh at the irony. In the month since Sara had confronted him, it seemed their positions had reversed: she now wanted nothing to do with him, and was frosty and unpleasant unless she absolutely had to be nice. And now the two of them were going to be stuck in a room together for god knew how long. The universe sure had a funny sense of humor.

He'd been in the room, sitting on the bed that he'd chosen for himself in a t-shirt and sweatpants for about 15 minutes when he heard a scream from outside the room. He jumped off the bed and looked at the door, waiting for it to open, when he saw her and backed against the wall.

"You're not real," he said to his sister, who was smiling at him and holding a baby in her arms. "Neither of you are. You're both dead." Elizabeth's face turned from a smile to an angry glare, and then to Trip's horror, the skin appeared to melt from the side of her face before she disappeared.

There was another scream, and the door opened. Phlox marched into the room, carrying a screaming and crying Sara in her quarantine clothes around her waist. He deposited her on the other bed, and quickly grabbed her hands when she reached up to scratch him. "No, no scratching," he said, opening one of her hands from the claw it had formed. He gently put her hand on his face. "See? I'm real, just like I told you earlier."

Sara nodded, her eyes glassy and wide. "You are real," she repeated. She turned and looked at Trip and screamed again, backing herself against the wall on the bed. "Is he real?" she asked, sounding terrified. "He's not real. He's like Andrew. Andrew isn't real…not anymore…"

"I'll leave you two alone," Phlox said, quickly leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Trip slowly approached the bed where Sara was cowering, his hand out. "You're real, right?" he said. "I promise I'm real."

Sara shook her head. "No you're not," she insisted. She flinched as Trip gently placed his hand on her face, then tentatively reached out and put her own hand on the cheek where he had been scratched.

"See, I'm real too," he said.

"Your face is not gone," Sara said in wonder.

"No, it's not," Trip replied quietly. "I'm just as real as you are. We're gonna be stuck here together for a while, so I figure we might as well get that out of the way so we don't try and kill each other."

Sara nodded, the frightened, glassy-eyed look gone and replaced by an expression of relief and understanding. "Are you going to stay real?" she asked. "Andrew…he was real, and then he stopped. Just like Elizabeth."

"Did you see Andrew and Elizabeth?"

"I saw Andrew. His face…his face…and he kept holding his hand out to me…but he wasn't real…"

"I saw both Elizabeths. My sister and my daughter. They weren't real either. But you are, and so am I, and we're gonna get better, I promise."

Sara looked up at him and tilted her head sideways, some of her curls spilling out from their place in the bun she put her hair in each morning. "Trip, I'm scared," she whispered.

"So am I," he admitted. "But at least we can be scared together."


	6. Chapter 6

6.

_"Captain's Starlog, July 27__th__ 2156: A firefight on Alterra VII has left us with numerous wounded and dead, and a unique illness spreading amongst the crew. The illness causes hallucinations and mania, with occasional bouts of sanity alternating with unconsciousness. We have six confirmed cases so far, including Ensign Rhodes and Commander Tucker. The infected have been quarantined in pairs, with the hope that a familiar face may lengthen the time between sanity and bouts of mania, and for now, it seems to be working. Analysis conducted by Ensign Rhodes before she succumbed to the hallucinations shows tiny green cell masses attached to blood cells. Further testing by Doctor Phlox shows that the green masses become enlarged during the hallucinations and mania. We are trying to arrange a meeting with some of the scientists of Alterra VII to try and determine what Ensign Connors, our Patient Zero, may have come in contact with that would cause such a horrific reaction. In the meantime, Phlox is trying to work on a cure for the hallucinations, and the patients remain in quarantine."_

Sara's eyes fluttered open slowly. She didn't recognize the room she was in, and not until she sat up and saw Trip sitting across the room did she remember where she was. She sighed and leaned against the wall; she was still in quarantine, and clearly there had been no change in her or Trip's conditions.

"Sleep well this time?" he asked, looking concerned.

Sara nodded. "For a change. Was nice to sleep for more than half an hour without waking up screaming. How long was I out this time?"

"Six hours. I forgot that you talked in your sleep."

Sara looked faintly embarrassed. "What exactly did I say?" she said, almost not wanting to know the answer.

"Nothing embarrassing," Trip said with a grin. "You kept talking about your kids, and there was definitely something about wanting Miss Rosa to make another plate of burritos."

Sara chuckled. "I've had that dream a lot over the last few decades," she said. "It's generally an indication that I'm hungry. I always wake up wanting to eat after having that dream. Think Chef would make us burritos if I gave him the recipe?"

"They'd probably come out alive if he did. No way they'd be as good as Miss Rosa's were."

"She did make some of the best food I've ever had," Sara said wistfully. "I really miss her."

"You said she died in February, right?"

"Middle of the month," Sara answered, crossing her legs on her bed and staring at the floor. She smiled a little bit. "Shortly after she got back from Las Vegas. Said she'd been having dreams about our grandfather for months, and she figured it was almost time for them to meet again. She went to bed one night after playing with Elizabeth and the boys and just never woke up. Aunt Cerys was the one who found her the next morning. Said she had a smile on her face, like she was having a good dream."

The door opened suddenly and two trays of food and drink were quickly shoved into the room. Sara climbed off the bed and grabbed hers, then set it on the table that separated the room into two sides. Trip joined her a few moments later and raised his glass. "To Miss Rosa," he said. "One hell of a cook, and an amazing human besides."

Sara smiled. "To my grandmother," she said, raising her glass. She took a sip and looked relieved. "Oh thank god, I've been needing cold water for days now. The machine in the mess was broken and was only giving warm. Glad to see that got fixed."

They ate in silence for a few minutes, and then finally, Trip asked Sara something that had been on his mind for a while. "So, you named one of your kids after me?"

Sara looked up from her plate. "Yeah, I did," she said with a small grin. "One of my twin boys." Trip wrinkled his nose. "What? What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing's wrong with it. It's just hard to get used to the idea that you're someone's mother."

"Three someones, you mean," Sara said with a laugh. "I do have two other kids."

"Yeah, and that makes it extra weird."

"You and my parents would be in good company then," Sara said. "Every time someone mentions that her youngest daughter has kids, my mom gets this weird look on her face and has to leave the room."

"So…why did you name one of the boys after me?"

Sara laughed so hard she nearly choked on a bit of mashed potatoes. "Oh, that's a funny story," she said after chugging down some water. "But…uh…you may not be too happy with it…"

"Tell. Now."

"OK, ok, I'll tell," she said, catching her breath. "So, it was my twenty-first birthday, and because I was having twins and multiples are considered a high-risk pregnancy situation, I had been on bed rest for the last few months. Your sister calls me, and while we're talking, the babies are kicking like mad. Well, she tells me about some sort of accident you had on a training mission, and I went into labor."

Trip's eyes went wide. "The Omega accident made you go into labor?"

"I'm pretty sure I was going into labor already, but that just kicked it into high gear," Sara said, highly amused. "Anyway, while I'm in the hospital bed complaining about how much it hurt, I happened to say in front of my husband that this was all your fault. Elizabeth started laughing and had to explain it to him, and he said we should name the baby Charles as a twisted sort of reward for you causing the twins to finally arrive."

"I'm kinda flattered," Trip said with a grin. "Nobody's named a kid after me before. But aren't you supposed to name the baby after your husband?"

"My sons are Charles Andrew and James Alexander, so yes, one of them is technically named after my husband. Andrew thought his name worked better as a middle name."

"Just out of curiosity, what's Elizabeth's middle name?"

"Cailinn, after my maternal grandmother. You never met her. She didn't like to travel all that much."

"Wait, was she the one that always sent the huge box of donuts?"

"Yup, that was Grandma Kapalko. Sent us donuts every chance she got because she knew we loved Maine-made donuts. My aunt Tess sends the donuts now. The kids love 'em."

Trip looked at the table, then looked up at Sara. "I have to ask," he started, sounding somewhat awkward. "Were you happy? With Andrew, I mean. Was he a good guy?"

Sara smiled briefly. "He was," she answered. "One of the best. I always felt safe with him, and he always made me laugh. There was nothing he wouldn't do for me, within reason of course."

"Knowing what you know now, would you marry him again?"

Sara thought for a moment. "If I were to go back and tell nineteen year old me that in seven years, I would be a widow with two sons and a daughter on the way, and this was my one chance to back out? I'd still marry Andrew. I was happy with him for seven years, and I have two sons and a daughter that are the image of him to remember that happiness by. I'd do it again in a heartbeat, no questions asked."

Trip snorted. "I've seen your daughter," he said, pointing at Sara with his fork. "If she's the spittin' image of anyone, it's her mother."

Sara laughed again and shook her head. "The hell she is. She's nowhere near as pale as I was at that age."

"She's got her momma's eyes and her momma's hair, and she's got her momma's loud mouth too."

"Hey! I don't have a loud mouth!"

"In the thirty five years I've been alive, I've never heard anyone scream the way you do. You are LOUD, Ensign Rhodes. Loud as hell and twice as vicious when you're angry. Remember, I've seen that firsthand."

Sara flinched a little. "I'd prefer to forget that, to be honest," she said. "It wasn't a good moment for either of us."

Trip looked a little guilty. "Yeah, it wasn't. I'm sorry that happened, and I'm sorry I was such an asshole. Especially about your daughter. That wasn't right at all."

"I meant what I said, about being sorry about your daughter. If something happened to one of my kids, I'd lose my mind. I can't imagine what that was like for you."

"I don't want you to. It was awful. That didn't give me any right to say what I did about your kid, though."

"I'm willing to forgive you on the basis of extreme grief, extreme shock, and extreme consumption of tequila."

Trip smiled. There was the Sara he'd known for years now. "So, how about we start over?"

"I'm up for that," Sara said with a bright smile.

What happened next was completely unexpected. Trip stood up, walked over to her side of the table, and pulled Sara out of her seat and into a warm hug. It was as if the previous couple of months had never happened, and they were friends again like they'd always been.

"I missed you, kid," Trip said, pulling back and ruffling Sara's hair.

Sara smacked his hand away playfully. "I missed you too, but don't touch my damn hair. You know how long it takes to get it to behave itself?"

"No, but I'm sure you'll be happy to tell me," Trip said, winking at Sara. "Besides, we've got plenty of time for you to tell it."

"All in good time," Sara said, sitting back down at the table. "I've got about a decade's worth of stories that you need to hear first."


	7. Chapter 7

7.

_"Captain's Starlog: July 30__th__, 2156: The scientists of Alterra VII, working alongside Phlox, have managed to manufacture a cure for the hallucination illness that has been plaguing the crew. A store of it has been set aside in case of any relapse, and we're starting to cure the sick crewmembers. I know at least two who will be happy to be out of quarantine and back to their normal quarters…"_

"So it was a plant the whole time?" Sara asked. Phlox had come into the quarantine room she was sharing with Trip, bearing two needles full of an alleged cure for their hallucinations and one very strange explanation.

"Oddly enough, yes," Phlox said, setting one needle down on a clean sheet of plastic on the table.

"How the hell could a plant cause all that?" Trip asked.

"Apparently, the plant is an experiment that the Alterrans were working on decades ago that went horribly wrong," Phlox explained. "They were trying to redesign the genetic structure of the flower to provide partial instantaneous healing when touched. However, there was a miscalculation, and instead of the touch healing, touching the plant with your bare hands causes mania and hallucinations."

Sara shuddered. "That's a pretty major mistake."

"The Alterrans have yet to figure out how, exactly, it went so wrong, but they discovered that when made into a serum, the flower does have healing properties, including healing any hallucinations the plant caused. The plant has to be handled with gloves the entire time the serum is being prepared, but once it's been boiled into liquid form, it's quite harmless to touch directly."

"You're sure this is going to work?" Trip asked, looking warily at the needle Phlox was carrying.

"Positive," Phlox said, walking over to Trip's cot. "We've tested it on some Alterrans who mistakenly touched the plant and it worked perfectly. With the exception of their purple blood, their physiology is much the same as a human's. Your arm, Commander."

Trip held his arm out and looked away, causing Sara to giggle a little. "Oh shut up, Ensign," Trip said, wincing as he felt the pinch of the needle.

"I can't help it," Sara said, holding out her left arm in preparation for her own injection. "I just keep remembering how you were never scared of needles before and now you're all jumpy and stuff."

Phlox picked up a second needle and crossed the room to Sara. "At least this quarantine had the additional effect of repairing whatever was wrong between the two of you."

Trip looked faintly embarrassed. "I didn't think anyone but Hoshi and Malcolm realized we weren't getting along."

"I know when my colleagues are upset, even if they don't say anything," Phlox replied, looking at Sara's arm.

"Turn it sideways and go for the vein near my elbow," Sara said helpfully. "That's the only one that is of any use for needles anyways." Trip snickered and Sara glared. "I MEANT MEDICAL NEEDLES, COMMANDER!"

Phlox injected the serum into Sara's vein, and stood back with a satisfied smile. "There we go. You'll stay in quarantine overnight, just to make sure that all traces of the illness are gone, but tomorrow you should both be able to return to active duty. Not a moment too soon, as it happens. We'll be rendezvousing with Columbia in two weeks, and we'll need you both in top shape. You may want to rest while the serum is taking effect…apparently the only known side effect, according to the Alterran scientists, is wanting to take an extended nap."

Sara clapped her hands excitedly as Phlox left. "The Columbia! I have a friend on that ship! Maybe I'll get to see her!"

"You do? Who is it?"

"Ensign Melody Liebowitz. We served at Starfleet Medical in Jacksonville together. You'll love her, she's hilarious."

"Just don't get yourselves court-martialed," Trip said with a grin. "That'd be a hell of a thing for me to have to explain to your parents."

"Oh, I'm sure you'd be able to handle it just fine," Sara said cheerfully. She yawned loudly and shook her head. "Phlox was right. I do think I need a nap."

"At least we won't be seeing things anymore."

"Yeah," Sara said, lying down on her cot and facing the wall. Tears filled her eyes as she remembered the horror. "I don't ever want to see anything like that again. It was almost as bad as…"

"As losing them the first time? Yeah, I can see that."

Sara hesitated. "Andrew's face…it was just GONE," she said quietly. "It was like Two-Face in that Batman movie from 2009, except all over. He never said a word, just reached out to me, like he was beckoning me or something."

"My sister looked the same way," Trip said. "My little girl, she was all right. She looked like herself. Was cooing and giggling, but Elizabeth…"

"It's like the flower takes our worst images and just magnifies them to the infinite power," Sara said, wiping her eyes quietly, not wanting Trip to know that she'd been crying. "At least whatever the virus did had the sense to leave our kids out of it, to some degree."

"On a lighter note, I wanted to ask you something," Trip said. Sara, despite her talents at fooling her parents when she was upset, had never been able to outsmart Trip or Elizabeth in that department.

Sara rolled over and looked at Trip. "About what?"

"About an incident at Starfleet Medical we heard about while we were refueling, before we picked you up."

"What incident?"

"Oh, this was a good one. Apparently, someone at Jacksonville had the gross anatomy lab cadavers delivered to the Starfleet Medical luncheon, and Ensign Cherie Parker's signature was on the delivery sheet."

"I remember Ensign Parker," Sara said with a nod.

"Funny thing is, when they compared the signatures, they matched up perfectly, but nobody had seen Ensign Parker in the receiving warehouse that day."

Sara looked innocent. "I have no idea what you could be implying."

Trip raised an eyebrow. "You don't."

"None whatsoever."

"Come on Sara, I know it was you."

"It wasn't me, I swear. You know I'm no good at forgery."

Trip thought this over. "This is true," he admitted. "You and Elizabeth always got caught forging doctor's notes when you wanted to stay home from school. They would've caught you right away. So you must have had a friend who could do it."

"Maybe, maybe not," Sara said. "I'll never tell, and neither will she."

"Just to be safe, I think we'll make sure you and Ensign Liebowitz don't sign for anything while the Columbia's here."

Sara chuckled. "So, what's the Columbia like?"

"Good crew, Captain Hernandez is pretty nice, and runs well. Not as good as us, though. You'd like Captain Hernandez. She had a cat last time we met up. Kept finding the cat and Porthos walking around corners together looking guilty. Grumpy bastard, that cat."

"I'm sure he's a sweetheart."

"T'Pol doesn't think so."

"I could say something, but I won't," Sara said, trying again to look innocent. "Is she not a cat person?"

"Well, last time they were here, the cat peed in her quarters somehow. You should've seen the look on her face. It was hilarious."

Sara laughed. "Oh man, I bet it was priceless!"

"Yeah, and the weird thing is, when we found the cat? He and Porthos were sitting in the mess hall, barkin' and meowin' at each other. It's almost like they planned the whole thing."

"Maybe you should keep an eye on them when Columbia docks."

"You know what? I think we will…"


	8. Chapter 8

**I'd just like to take a moment to thank Belen09 for her kind comment on my story, and BonesBird for beta'ing this whole gigantic mess without losing her mind.**

* * *

8.

Sara looked at the letter on her PADD and smiled. Before she had a chance to open it, there was a knock on her door. "Come in," she said. The doors opened and Trip entered.

"Just wanted to let you know we're docking with Columbia shortly," he said. "Excited to see your partner in crime again?"

Sara chuckled. "Of course," she said. "I'll be in Sickbay in a bit. Got a letter from home that I want to read first."

"Boyfriend?"

"Sons, jerk," Sara said, sticking her tongue out.

Trip grinned. "Oh, by the way, we're sending shuttlepods down to the planet to take a look around and regroup. I heard a rumor we're gonna need a nurse. Better get a bag packed." He walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Sara shook her head and turned her attention back to the PADD. She opened the letter and began to read:

_"Dear Mom,_

_I hope you're feeling better. Those hallucinations sounded scary. I'm sorry they happened._

_Me and Charlie and Lizzie are fine. So are Grandma Jennie and Grandpa James and Nana Katie and Pappy Alexander. We all miss you a lot._

_Charlie wanted me to tell you that he scored the winning goal during our soccer game last week. He scored two goals and I scored three. Our team won six to four. We might even get to play in a tournament if we win again next week._

_Lizzie is having a ballet recital in three weeks. She said something else about it but I wasn't really listening and she got mad at me and kicked me in the shin. Grandma Jennie put her in the corner, and then I think she said I should pay attention more, but I'm not too sure. I wasn't really paying attention._

_Sorry you won't be home for Lizzie's birthday. We'll give her the presents, just like you said. Stay safe!_

_Love,_

_James, Charlie, Lizzie, Grandma Jennie, Grandpa James, Nana Katie and Pappy Alexander"_

Sara laughed and saved the letter so she could reply to it later. Her family seemed to be doing well, and she was immensely relieved to see it, although she made a mental note to explain to James the value of paying attention to his grandmothers and siblings in her response.

After straightening some things up around her quarters, Sara walked down to Sickbay, where a very familiar face greeted her.

"MELODY?" she screamed, not expecting to see her friend so soon.

Ensign Melody Liebowitz smiled and winked at Phlox. "I told you she'd be surprised."

"Hell yeah I'm surprised!" Sara said, rushing over to give her friend a hug. "It's been ages!"

"Only 3 months," Melody said, hugging her friend back. "But it sure feels like it's been longer! How are you? We heard about some sort of hallucination incident…"

"It was a plant that didn't like to be touched very much," Sara said with a laugh. "Phlox, she's probably already introduced herself, but this is Ensign Melody Liebowitz, my best friend at Starfleet Medical in Jacksonville and one of the most amazing people I know."

Melody saluted Phlox with one of her crutches. "Pleased to meet you again, doctor," she said with a grin. "Nice Pyrithian bat you've got there."

"Sara named her Fuzzy," Phlox said with a small grin, and Sara prayed that Melody wouldn't get the full Denobulan smile while she was on board. "It took her six finger bites to be able to name her…apparently, Fuzzy rejects potential names by biting whoever gives them to her."

Melody chuckled. "Why am I not surprised?" she said, shaking her head at her friend. "Sara used to name the John Doe cadavers."

"They let you name the cadavers?" Phlox asked, looking confused.

Sara giggled. "We used to give the John Doe cadavers names and identities to go along with a scenario for the forensic students. It helped them practice their skills. The scenarios always led to the actual cause of death for the body, but we'd make up new names and such for them."

"And if you annoyed Sara before the cadaver shipments came in, you'd get a cadaver with a suspiciously hilarious name. We had 3 Ben Dovers, a Seymour Butts, and a John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt while we were there."

"Mr. Schmidt was an ESQUIRE, thank you very much," Sara said, fondly remembering the forensic students' attempts to not laugh while they were figuring that one out. "He was one of my favorites. The poor guy had been bludgeoned to death, and the scenario involved him last being seen arguing with someone who wouldn't stop singing that song at him."

"My personal favorite was William Thomas Fink," Melody said, laughing hysterically. "So named because Sara's reaction to his injury was…well…original…"

"His initials are the abbreviation of my reaction," Sara said to Phlox. She giggled as Phlox took a moment to figure it out and then started laughing as well.

"Clever, very clever," he said. "If not slightly obscene."

"Only if you know military call letters," Sara said innocently. "Besides, I'd never seen a rash like that on someone in my life. My reaction was more natural than the color of those blotches."

"So, is my friend behaving herself?" Melody asked Phlox.

Phlox nodded. "My faith in Sara's abilities was not misplaced, nor have I or any of the crew, our captain included, been disappointed in her skills. She's quite proficient, and learning more every day. Even the slugs seem to like her, and I highly doubt that they like anyone other than myself and Captain Archer."

"Good," Melody said. "I'm glad she's fitting in. She was a little worried before she left."

"That particular worry has been fixed for about a month now," Sara said, not wanting to go into any more specifics, even though Phlox knew she was clearly referring to her friendship with Trip. "Anyways, how have you been? Tell me all about the Columbia while we find you something to eat." She and Melody said goodbye to Phlox and started walking to the mess.

"I love it," Melody said. "Everyone's fairly nice, and Captain Hernandez is a good leader."

"I've heard about her," Sara said. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Don't tell anyone I told you this, but Trip said that she and Captain Archer are in love."

Melody grinned. "I'm pretty sure they are," she said. "When we finally made it over here, and she was greeting your captain, it was obvious."

"Seriously?"

"Well, not to the untrained eye," Melody said. "They were quite polite and formal with each other, very professional, but you could see it in Captain Hernandez' eyes that she was really happy to see him. They were shining pretty bright. Captain Archer looked the same way at her, and when he led us out of docking, they were walking pretty close together."

"Everyone deserves someone to love," Sara said. "So, anything else interesting on the ship?"

"Oh yeah," Melody said, looking around suddenly. "There's a guy on the ship who says he knew you when you were a kid."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Huh, that's interesting."

"He's one of the MACOs. He came over with us. Damned if I know where he is right now."

They walked into the mess and Sara showed Melody all the different foods and where trays and such were kept. She was just giggling with Melody about Chef's attempt at tuna casserole, when a voice behind her said "Sara Callahan, is that you?"

Sara picked up her tray and turned around. Behind her stood a fairly tall young man about her age, wearing the uniform of a MACO. He had the air of the familiar about him, but Sara couldn't place him. And then suddenly it hit her…hit her as hard as she'd seen Elizabeth hit him they day they met.

"Bobby?" she asked. "Bobby Neville? Holy crap, is that you?"

"Yeah!" Bobby said, grinning. "Melody told me you were on Enterprise, and I thought I'd say hello. I promise I won't pull your hair, though."

Sara burst out laughing. "I'm holding you to that," she said, motioning for him to grab a tray. "You're sitting with me and Melody if you haven't eaten yet." Bobby grabbed a tray and filled it with food, then followed Sara and Melody to Sara's usual corner.

"So, you two knew each other as kids," Melody said, digging into her mashed potatoes. "I have to ask, because I've heard this story a lot…did Elizabeth Tucker really drop you with one punch?"

Bobby nearly spit out the water he was drinking, causing Sara and Melody to burst out laughing. "Yes, yes she did," he said, wiping the water from his mouth. "And I deserved it too. Pulled Sara's curls and tried to steal one of her toys. I was a little shit."

"He was," Sara agreed. "But he shaped up real quick after that. We got to be pretty good friends by junior high. Well, good enough that we'd talk and do homework together."

"I lost track of Sara after graduation," Bobby said. "Until I got a call from my mother saying "Hey, Sara Callahan is getting married, but she doesn't have your address and wants to send you an invite. Can I give that to her parents?" and then boom! I'm sitting on Sara's side of the church at the wedding. I moved to Washington state shortly after that, so I had no idea what happened to her until I met you and you said she was working on Enterprise."

"You better be careful while you're here," Sara teased. "Elizabeth's brother is the chief engineer on this ship, and Tuckers have very long memories."

Bobby looked a little sick. "I've been successful at avoiding Trip Tucker thus far, and I hope to continue successfully in that endeavor until we leave," he said.

"Don't worry, I've got your back," Melody said. "And I'm sure Sara does too. We'll make sure the big bad commander doesn't get you, little MACO." All three cracked up laughing.

Suddenly, there was a flash of brown, white, and grey across the mess hall, and the unmistakable sounds of a dog and a cat echoed throughout the mess hall. T'Pol appeared in the doorway looking, for her, anyways, quite irate.

"Captain Hernandez brought her cat with her," Bobby said with a chuckle. "Apparently he and Porthos, Captain Archer's dog, are best friends." There were two thuds under the table, and the three friends looked under to see Porthos and an extremely pissy-looking cat sitting on their feet.

"We won't tell if you won't," Sara said, winking at the animals. Porthos responded by nuzzling her legs. The cat just stared at her like it was judging her very existence. The three heard footsteps and sat up quickly. T'Pol was walking over to their table, looking like she was about to conduct an interrogation.

"Commander," Sara said respectfully. "Can we help you somehow?"

"I see Captain Archer's dog and Captain Hernandez's cat have taken a liking to you. When you return them to their rightful owners, please inform Captain Hernandez that her cat has incurred more damages to my personal effects," T'Pol said, sounding close to disgusted. "And please inform Captain Archer as well that somebody has been feeding Porthos cheese again. He has caused damages as well, and I am unsure if they can be rectified without industrial-strength cleaner."

Sara nodded, trying desperately not to laugh out loud. "I will certainly do so, Commander." When T'Pol was a safe enough distance away, Sara burst out laughing.

"OK, what's the joke?" Bobby demanded.

"Give the cat some tuna," Sara said, wiping tears away from her eyes. "Because given what Commander T'Pol just said? I'm pretty sure the cat and Porthos peed on her things, at the very least. If Porthos has had cheese, it may be slightly worse."

Melody chuckled and dropped a piece of tuna in front of the cat. "Here ya go, Grumps," she said. The cat looked disdainfully at her, then rubbed against her legs while eating the tuna. "Captain Hernandez named him Grumps because he always looked pissed off."

"So, I hear we're going down to the planet later," Bobby said. "Rumor has it that Captain Hernandez and Captain Archer need to regroup and the people offered some help. Captain didn't seem happy about it for some reason, though."

"Well, maybe she just doesn't want to leave the ship," Sara said.

"I wouldn't either, especially with this war going on," Bobby said. "Who knows what we'll run into down there."

"Don't be so pessimistic," Melody chided. "It can't be as bad as you're imagining."

"Yeah," Bobby said, looking grim. "It's probably going to be a hell of a lot worse…"


	9. Chapter 9

9.

_"Captain's Starlog, August 17__th__, 2156: We have rendezvoused with Columbia and are regrouping on Selfloss XII, a planet near the rendezvous point. The ruler of Selfloss XII requested an audience with us in the hopes of sharing some medical knowledge, a prospect which is exciting to the medical staff of both ships. However, Captain Hernandez Is visibly displeased with the idea, if her frequent quips about cavemen and dragging women around by their hair is any indication."_

"Jon, I'm telling you, I don't like it."

"That's evident enough," Archer said, pacing around the back of the shuttlepod. They were on their way to Selfloss XII, carrying a crew made up of himself, Erika, Commander Fletcher, Trip, Malcolm, Sara, Phlox, Melody, and Bobby. The medical team was chatting happily away while Commander Fletcher and Trip argued about who drove the shuttlepod better and Malcolm and Bobby polished their weapons in case they were needed.

"I swear, when they hailed us, they looked revolted when they saw me," Erika said. "They flat-out refused to deal with me, and demanded to speak to the highest-ranking male on the ship. I don't think they like dealing with women at all."

"Well, they're going to have to deal with all of you," Jon said with a grin. "They've probably never seen a human female in charge before. We're talking about a planet that has only recently started interacting with humans at all."

"I know, but I don't like it," Erika said doubtfully. "I just can't shake the bad feeling. But if you think dragging us into diplomacy with a planet full of misogynistic cavemen is a-ok, then by all means, lead me to King Ogg and we'll get shit done."

Jon rolled his eyes and shook his head. When Erika got worried, she got sarcastic, and the last thing he needed was for his crew to pick up on it. He sat down next to her, and without saying anything, linked his pinky around hers. Erika smiled briefly and nudged his shoulder with hers, both gestures barely noticeable but full of meaning nonetheless.

"We'll be landing shortly, Captain," Trip said from the front of the shuttlepod. Ten minutes later, the shuttlepod landed with a thud. The doors opened and Sara looked out onto a landscape that didn't look all that different from her neighborhood in Panama City. There were trees that appeared to be willow trees, and flowers that could have been any number of things, but after the incident on Alterra VII, she and the rest of the Enterprise team had decided to stay far away from any flowers on this mission.

The group exited the shuttlepod and shortly encountered a group of six men, five with a slightly orange tint to their skin and clothes in patterns none of them had seen before, and a sixth man who was dressed similarly to a royal page.

The orange-skinned man in the brightest colors stepped forward. "Which of you is Captain Jonathan Archer?" he asked in a heavily-accented voice that sounded almost like English combined with a thick and indescribable accent.

Jon stepped forward. "I am Captain Jonathan Archer of the starship Enterprise," he said. He motioned Trip forward. "This is my second in command, Commander Charles Tucker III."

"I am Merritt L'Sar," the man said. "I rule this territory. Who are these others you have brought with you?" He and the other orange-skinned men looked disdainfully at Captain Hernandez, Commander Fletcher, Melody, and Sara. Jon was beginning to think that maybe Erika had been right.

Malcolm stepped forward. "Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, Enterprise."

Bobby stepped forward after him. "Sergeant Robert Neville, security, Columbia."

Phlox went next. "Doctor Phlox, chief medical officer, Enterprise."

Erika strode forward, followed by Commander Fletcher. "Captain Erika Hernandez and Commander Veronica Fletcher, Columbia." She was met with looks from the assembled orange- skinned men that could not be described as anything other than disgust.

Sara and Melody finished the introductions. "Ensign Sara Callahan Rhodes, medical, Enterprise, and Ensign Melody Liebowitz, medical, Columbia." The looks of disgust were now clear on the faces of the assembled men, with the exception of the man who appeared to be human. Jon winced internally; Erika had been right. The Selflossians definitely did not like dealing with women.

The human-looking male stepped forward. "John Collins, ambassador of King Alexander Woodville of the Territories of Nicaustra VII," he said, offering his hand to each of the crew members in turn.

"An ambassador," Archer commented. "What brings you here?"

"Ambassador Collins is trying to negotiate a trade agreement between his king and myself," L'Sar said. "He is a very shrewd man. I request he be present during our negotiations as a mediator."

"I see no trouble with that," Archer said. "Although I find it a little troubling that you think a mediator will be needed when our discussions haven't even started yet."

"We believe it prudent to be prepared for every eventuality that could occur," L'Sar said. "Now, allow me to lead your group to your quarters. I trust they will be quite comfortable. No expense is spared for visitors, no matter what their appearance."

Sara raised an eyebrow at Melody, who made a disgusted face in return. Captain Hernandez happened to turn around and see their expressions and smiled. She fell back in step with the two ensigns. "So, Ensign Liebowitz, is this the friend you've been talking about for the last week?"

"Yes ma'am," Melody said.

"Ensign Sara Callahan Rhodes, ma'am," Sara said. "It's an honor to be on this mission with you, although…" She trailed off, unsure of how she should finish her sentence.

"Yes Ensign?" Erika said, raising an eyebrow. "Go on, spit it out."

"I don't know how much work we'll be able to do, since they apparently find women so contemptible. I find myself doubting that we women will be allowed to contribute anything at all."

Erika nodded. "Very perceptive, Ensign," she said. "We'll find a way, though. I refuse to let a pack of Oompa Loompas shove false morality down my throat to make me stay quiet. I'm a Captain and I plan on contributing like one." She nodded at the two ensigns, then walked up to join Commander Fletcher again.

"You're right, she's awesome," Sara whispered to Melody. They were each shown to separate quarters, and L'Sar had not lied; the guest quarters were gorgeous, and a chair had been found for Melody in the event that her crutches became too cumbersome for the terrain. Though they appeared to have great distaste for women in any position that did not involve waiting on someone else, they treated the females in the group courteously.

Sara unpacked her bags and took a look at the information on the PADD she had been given before the shuttlepod trip. The Selflossians were looking for certain medicines and plants that would cure common diseases on their planet, all of which had been located in the sickbays of Enterprise and Columbia. Sara and Melody had been instructed to compile a list of the ingredients and how they needed to be prepared, something Sara had been eager to get started on.

There was a knock on her door, and when she bid the person on the other side to come in, she was surprised to see it was the young ambassador.

"Mister Collins," Sara said. "I wasn't expecting you."

"John, please," he said. "I apologize for intruding, but I was wondering if you and your friend Ensign Liebowitz would like to have dinner with me tonight. The higher officers are all going to be at dinner with L'Sar, and I didn't want the two of you to feel left out."

"Oh, thank you," Sara said, looking surprised. "Are Captain Hernandez and Commander Fletcher going to L'Sar as well?"

"Oh yes," John said with a chuckle. "Your Captain Archer insisted on it. It seems he's mightily displeased with the behavior of the general male population towards the four of you, and he refuses to allow them to be left out of the important state events. I like him already."

Sara grinned. "He's a good boss," she said. "I consider myself lucky that I got assigned to his ship."

"Well, since I've already spent the last half hour getting to know Ensign Liebowitz and her career, I think it's only fair that I get to know you," John said. "Melody speaks quite highly of you."

Sara blushed and offered him a seat on the couch in the living room area of her quarters. "Melody and I served at Starfleet Medical in Jacksonville," she said. "We've been good friends for over a year, and I've always maintained that she has too high an opinion of me."

"We're all our own worst critics," John said with a laugh. "I understand you have children?"

"Yes, three of them. Twin boys who are nine years old and a daughter who is actually turning three years old today."

"It must be difficult to be away from them, especially on the little one's birthday."

"You like children."

John smiled. "I do," he said. "The king is my cousin on my father's side, and there are many small children running around the castle at any given time. The maids and pages bring their children to court, and my cousin likes to keep them around for entertainment. There's nothing funnier than a small child and a stick, he's fond of saying."

"Until the stick pokes someone in the eye," Sara said, grinning. She liked the ambassador already; he had an easy manner and a sense of humor that reminded her strongly of talking to her Welsh cousins. "Then it's either upsetting or hilarious, depending on who got poked."

John laughed loudly. "We seem to think alike, you and me," he said. "I think that maybe Melody's opinion of you is well-deserved. She said you were quite kind and very funny. Also very brave."

"She's braver than I am, though," Sara said. "There were so many incidents at Starfleet Medical where she stood up to people that I just shrank from. I'm rather shy, oddly enough. Have been all my life."

"Raising three children on your own is brave," John said. "I'm sorry if it's none of my business, but I have to commend you on that. I know from experience that it's not easy."

"You have children?" Sara asked.

"No, not yet," John said with a small smile. "Someday, maybe. My father raised me by himself after my mother died. I was a week old and in any other time and place would have been called a "bastard" and left for an orphanage. My father had cared greatly for my mother, though, and would have married her if she hadn't died, so he took care of me from birth until now. I have great respect for anyone who can raise their children without a significant other."

Sara was touched. "Thank you," she said. "And clearly, your father did a good job. Any father would be proud to have a son like you."

"Well damn," John said, blushing a little bit. "Nicest thing anyone outside my own planet has ever said to me." There was a knock on the door, and Melody entered.

"So, John here said we should have dinner together, and I said we should have it here," she said with a grin, walking over to the couch and plopping herself down next to John. "I figured the two of you have tortured each other with awkward conversation long enough."

Sara laughed. "Actually, you were interrupting a romantic moment and I'm inclined to tell you to get the hell out," she teased. John chuckled. He really liked the two women; they reminded him of some of his friends back home.

"So, John, you've been here longer than us," Melody said. "How does one go about ordering dinner, and would any machine we use know if a dirty filthy woman touched the buttons?"

John laughed loudly. "I love that this horrific annoyance has already turned into a joke for the two of you," he said. "For future reference, I don't like it either. But there's a machine over there, and you can order whatever you'd like. I recommend the arkume patata gisatua."

"Sounds intriguing," Melody said. "What's that?"

John chuckled again. "It's a stew made from an animal that tastes like a lamb and looks strangely like a water buffalo and a vegetable that appears to be an actual potato."

"I'm game," Sara said. She looked at Melody, who nodded. "Yeah, we're both game. Bring it on!"

John walked over to the machine and punched in an order for three large bowls of arkume patata gisatua, various noodles, and something called txokolatea sorpresa, which he explained as being a very rich-tasting dessert made from, of all things, chocolate. When the food arrived, it smelled so good that they pounced on it almost immediately after the maid who delivered it had left the room.

"I didn't know chocolate was this far out in the galaxy," Sara said, happily chewing on a spoonful of arkume patata gisatua. "I wonder how they got it."

"I actually looked that up," John said. "I like to research the places I'm being sent to when I get new assignments, and apparently, they got the cacao beans and the potatoes from one of the first ships they encountered. In exchange for linguistic information and some plants that would grow very well on their planet, they traded some information on how to make uniforms more stain-resistant and better able to withstand different climates."

"That's intriguing," Melody said. "Which language did they pick up?"

"Basque and English, apparently," John said. "Most of the people on the planet speak English, but all the plants and animals and food and whatnot are given Basque names. They apparently decided they wanted it after the linguistics expert they met stubbed his toe and swore in Basque in front of L'Sar's father." The two ensigns laughed, and they spent the rest of dinner telling funny stories about Sara's children, John's exploits on ambassadorial missions, and Melody's adventures on the Columbia.

At the end of the meal, John stood up to leave, and thanked the women for a wonderful time. "Melody, could I walk you back to your room so the big scary mens don't arrest you for not looking at the floor?"

Melody let out a sound that could only be described as an evil cackle. "Yes, please protect poor little old me from the big scary mens with the spears and the disapproving glares," she said. The two departed, and Sara shook her head with a smile. John Collins was certainly an interesting man, and she found she had enjoyed his company for dinner.

She picked up her PADD and looked at the ingredients list again. She decided to make two lists: a list of the different medicines that the Selflossians had requested and their recipes, and a separate list of how the different ingredients and already completed medicines would need to be packaged for transport. Offhand, she knew that at least ten or eleven of the ingredients on the list had to be specifically packed so that they didn't interact with certain other ingredients on the list, and an organized packing list would be incredibly helpful not only to the Selflossians, but also to herself, Phlox, and Melody when packing up things on the two ships.

She worked for hours on both lists, and when she finally completed them, she realized she was tired. She sent a copy of both lists to Melody, and then changed into a set of pajamas she had snuck into her bag when she'd left Earth and climbed into the large bed that had been provided. For the first time in months, she fell asleep immediately, her hopes resting firmly on the basis that when the Selflossians saw her skills, their minds would change. Had she but known it, her hopes were about to be, once again, horrifically dashed.


	10. Chapter 10

10.

_"Captain's Starlog, August 18__th__,2156: After a state dinner with Merritt L'Sar last night, we are ready for the first official meeting to discuss a medical trade. L'Sar has cures for certain diseases that we have encountered previously but have not been able to easily cure, and we have the ingredients and recipes that he and his people need to be able to cure some common diseases amongst their people. Unfortunately, it appears that the initial assessment by Captain Hernandez was in fact true: The Selflossians have fought us every step of the way on including the female members of our party in discussions. Since two of the medical professionals on our team are female, I am hoping that a display of their skills in the field of medicine may be able to change their mind, at least for the time being."_

"Do you have everything prepared?" Phlox asked. He and Sara were walking down a corridor behind Captain Archer and Trip, on their way to the initial trade meetings with Merritt L'Sar and his ruling council.

Sara nodded and held up her PADD. "Two lists, compiled last night and checked over by Ensign Liebowitz this morning for errors," she said. "And then kindly double and triple checked by Commander Fletcher. She seemed pleased to be asked, oddly enough. I would have thought two ensigns bothering her to check their work would have annoyed her."

"Given the climate on this planet, I can believe that just being asked would be pleasant," Phlox said. "The culture here is strangely reminiscent of early 1900s Earth."

"Early 1900s Earth with infinitely more restrictions," Sara said with a frown. "We had to fight for the right to vote, but at least we were able to hold down some forms of employment. They don't seem to even allow governesses here."

Trip turned around and motioned for Sara to be quiet. Sara looked apologetic; she knew that being overheard trashing the culture that was being fairly kind to them could cause massive damage when it came time to start negotiations, and she didn't want to be the cause of any trouble. All she wanted to do was help in any way she could. She'd explained it to Trip earlier when he'd come over for breakfast.

"I don't like that I'm basically confined to staying quiet and looking pretty," she'd said. "And from what Ambassador Collins told Melody and I last night, it seems like that's exactly what L'Sar and his goons are going to try and do to us, even Captain Hernandez."

"You're worrying too much," Trip had said. "Once they see the lists and realize how useful you really are, they'll be bending over backwards to get your help…I hope…"

Sara grinned at the memory. It was nice to know that she wasn't the only one who was worried about who they were dealing with.

The group reached the conference room, outside of which stood a fuming Captain Hernandez, Commander Fletcher, and Melody. "They refused to let us in," Commander Fletcher explained quietly. "At least until you all got here. Ambassador Collins tried to get them to let us in with him, but they refused."

Archer raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "They wouldn't let you in with the Ambassador?"

"Apparently we have to be let in by our owners," Erika said, the biting sarcasm of her statement making her anger unmistakable. "A rental is out of the question."

"Well, we're here now, and I plan on making this go as quickly as humanly possible," Archer said. "That way we can get the hell out of here. I don't want to stay any longer than I have to." He opened the door and led the group into the room. Sara and Melody sat next to Phlox near the end of the table and stayed as quiet as possible, having noticed that upon their entry, L'Sar's face had turned into a sunset's worth of reds.

"And why have you brought them?" he spat. "We do not allow women into negotiations."

"It seems like that's not the only thing you don't allow women to do," Trip muttered. Sara kicked him under the table to shut him up. If she wasn't allowed to botch things, neither was he.

"Captain Hernandez and Commander Fletcher are two of the most important officers in Starfleet," Archer said, keeping his voice even. "And Ensigns Rhodes and Liebowitz are highly trained in the medical field. Each of them bring something valuable to these negotiations; Captain Hernandez and Commander Fletcher a strong history of dealing with alien races, and the ensigns a wealth of knowledge of medicine, something that I believe you arranged these negotiations in order to earn. These negotiations cannot, and will not, continue without these important members of the crew present."

L'Sar appeared shocked at Archer's words. "You are not of our world, and you clearly do not understand our ways, so I will let this pass this one time. However, further displays like this will result in possible judiciary action against you and your crew. Do I make myself clear, Captain Archer?"

"Crystal," Archer said. He looked at Ambassador Collins and winked. "It seems to me that Mister L'Sar was oddly prescient when he arranged for you to serve as mediator, Ambassador. It appears we'll be needing your services after all."

John smiled back. "I hope to be as helpful as I can to make these proceedings move smoothly," he said. "And as a reminder to all parties involved, I remain neutral. Any questions of asking me to take a side during these discussions in this room are strictly forbidden. Now, we'll conduct these negotiations as follows: One side will present their information at a time. Interruptions will not be allowed by anybody. There will be time after a side presents for them to answer any questions posed by the opposite side. Again, interruptions will not be tolerated."

"And only one person may hold the talking stick at a time," Melody muttered quietly. Sara heard her and had to disguise her snort of laughter as a sneeze.

"Mister L'Sar, since you are the host, you will start, unless you would like to delegate to Captain Archer," John said, bowing to L'Sar.

"I am more than happy to let our guest present first," L'Sar said. "I am extremely interested in what he has to offer Selfloss XII."

"Thank you, Mister L'Sar," Captain Archer said. "Our medical staffs on both ships were given a detailed document containing a list of the diseases that you are requesting assistance with curing. They were asked to locate the cures and ingredients to complete them amongst the stores of both ships. Inventory was taken of the Sickbays on both ships, with the result that all ingredients necessary to complete the cures were found, as well as already completed cures in some cases. I would like to defer to Doctor Phlox, chief medical officer of Enterprise, to continue with the results of this search."

Phlox stood up. "Ensign Rhodes and myself conducted an extensive search of our stores in Sickbay, and successfully located all compounds, liquids, and other various ingredients necessary to complete the cures for the diseases your people are suffering from. I then made the journey to the Columbia to assist their chief medical officer with a search of their Sickbay, and we were able to find the ingredients there as well. In total, we found all 117 ingredients that were listed in the recipes for the cures required. I now defer to Ensign Sara Callahan Rhodes to explain the documents we have put together for you."

Sara looked at Phlox like he'd shined a set of headlights in her face. Given the feeling towards women at the negotiations thus far, Sara had expected to hand the PADD over when Phlox requested it and let it go from there. She hadn't expected Phlox to let her speak, especially since L'Sar seemed to be hell-bent on not letting her speak. Phlox nodded at her and motioned for her to stand.

Sara stood up, completely terrified. As she rose, Melody squeezed her hand and smiled. Sara smiled back and then picked up her PADD and began to speak. "After inventory of the ingredients was completed, I compiled two separate documents to help with the transfer of the ingredients from the ship to the planet. One is a list of the ingredients that includes instructions on how they should be packed and stored, including which ingredients need to be stored separately from others in order to prevent a catastrophic incident…" She trailed off; she'd happened to look up and noticed that L'Sar and his council were all either staring at her with disgust or simply not paying attention at all. Sara could feel her pulse begin to race in fear, but continued nonetheless.

"The second list I compiled is a complete list of the recipes that were requested by Mister L'Sar and his council here present. It too includes storage instructions for the completed recipes organized by storage method. All recipes can be completed using a minimum of equipment and preparation time, and all have been tested repeatedly on Starfleet personnel and shown to be highly effective. Both lists were checked by Ensign Melody Liebowitz for content and re-checked by Commander Veronica Fletcher before being approved by Captains Erika Hernandez and Jonathan Archer this morning." She squeaked out the last portion of her presentation and sat down, trembling.

"Thank you, Ensign Rhodes," Archer said, smiling at her. "And I think I speak for myself and Captain Hernandez when I say that the work you, Ensign Liebowitz, and the entire medical staffs of Enterprise and Columbia is beyond reproach and very well done." Captain Hernandez smiled for the first time since they'd landed on the planet and nodded her agreement, as did Commander Fletcher, to Sara and Melody's immense surprise.

"Is there anything else, Captain Archer?" John asked. When Archer shook his head no, John turned to L'Sar and his council, who looked positively enraged. John visibly blanched, and then carefully asked. "Mister L'Sar, do you and your council have any questions regarding Captain Archer's presentation?"

"Yes, I do," L'Sar said, sounding almost as angry as he looked. "Why would you let a woman handle such an important task as this?"

"Because Ensign Rhodes is qualified for the position," Archer replied, staring L'Sar directly in the face as he did. "Much more qualified to handle medical issues than any of the other people, male or female, that she encounters on Enterprise daily, with the exception, of course, of Doctor Phlox. I trusted her fully with this endeavor because she has proved to be exceptionally organized and careful about her work."

"It should have been handled by your doctor Phlox alone!" L'Sar said, slamming his hand on the table and causing everyone to jump. Sara began shaking in terror, something only Melody and Phlox noticed as they were sitting right next to her. Under the table, Phlox squeezed Sara's hand in an exact mirror of Melody's gesture at the beginning of her speech. "We will take your offer, on one condition and one condition only: that none of these women directly handle any of the goods we will be receiving. Find males on your ships who can do the packing and rewrite these lists. We will accept nothing from these women, and we ask nothing in return if our terms are met."

"If I may speak, sir," Phlox said, standing up. John nodded an assent. "I understand that this is a significant cultural difference between the Selflossians and our ships, but what you are asking us to do would be nearly impossible."

"How?" L'Sar demanded. "I am sure there are men on board both ships who can write a list and pack items into boxes just as well as these females can."

"Yes, there are, but as you heard, some of these ingredients we are giving you are incredibly delicate and require special packaging, something only a person trained in the medical field would know how to do. Sara and Melody are both specially trained in the field; if you refuse to allow them to help, you run the risk of you and your people being injured or possibly killed by an incompetent person putting two things near each other that cause an explosion."

"It is a risk we are willing to take," L'Sar said crossly. "Ambassador, our terms are simple. We will accept nothing from this crew that these women have touched. We expect them to return to us in three days with the items we have asked for, completely untouched by the women, or we will be forced to take action against them for breaking the terms of negotiation." John looked like he was going to be sick; he hadn't wanted to serve as mediator, but he'd done so at the risk of losing the trade agreement with the Selflossians and was severely regretting his decision to do so.

"In the middle of a war?" Trip said, jumping to his feet. "With all due respect, Mister L'Sar, you are out of your-" He was interrupted by Archer.

"Commander Tucker, sit down," he said. He looked at L'Sar, a world of anger evident on his face. "Mister L'Sar, we agree to your terms. We ask for safe passage for all of our crew through your airspace and back to our ships."

"Granted," L'Sar said shortly. He turned to John, who stood at attention. "Ambassador Collins, I thank you for your service as mediator. The actions of your fellow humans will not be held against you, as you did the job required of you. I will sign the trade agreement with Nicaustra VII and deliver it to you this evening. You have done well." He motioned towards the door. "These negotiations are concluded. You all may leave."

Phlox helped Sara to her feet and led her out the door after Captain Archer and the rest of the crew. They were silent as they loaded their belongings into the shuttlepod and filed inside. Once the door closed, Sara slumped to the floor of the shuttlepod in a near faint, her eyes wide with terror and her face pale.

"What have I done?" she moaned, as Phlox and Melody helped her into a sitting position. "I've ruined everything!" The roar of the take-off sequence caused her to jump to attention and look around as if she'd been shot at.

"Calm down," Melody said, trying to comfort her incredibly terrified friend. She looked helplessly at Phlox, silently begging him to do something.

"Sara, you did nothing wrong," Phlox said. "I felt you were more suited to explain the documents than I, since you were the most familiar with them. Cultural differences aside, I refuse to take credit for work that is not mine."

Sara opened her mouth to say something, but the words stalled in her throat as Captain Archer approached her. What came out instead was a moan of terror as she began crying. "I'm sorry," she said over and over again. "I didn't mean to ruin everything Captain."

Archer knelt in front of Sara and turned her head so she could see his face. Sara started to relax; the Captain was smiling, and looked strangely proud. "You did nothing wrong, Ensign," he said gently. "I ask that all my crew be honest in their dealings with others, and you lived up to that. More than that, you showed them exactly what a woman is worth. I cannot fault you for that. In fact, I commend you for it."

"Really?" Sara squeaked, trying not to cry any more in front of her superior officers. She was already highly embarrassed to have done so to begin with.

"Really," Archer said. "Now, unfortunately, we have to follow their instructions to be able to leave the planet safely. However, they don't have to know that we didn't rewrite the lists. Ensign Rhodes, when we reach the ship, send a copy of both lists to Sergeant Neville. Sergeant Neville, I want you to get a group of MACOs together, as many as will listen to you, and handle the packing. I've already cleared your involvement with Captain Hernandez."

"And Sergeant Neville," Erika said, looking at Bobby, who looked ready to do anything he was asked. "Inform your team that if any of them mentions to the Selflossians that the lists were not rewritten, they're looking at a stint in the brig. Are we clear?"

"We're clear," Bobby answered, saluting Erika.

"We're clear," Sara said weakly. She closed her eyes, intending to sleep during the short trip back to the Enterprise, but somewhere in the pit of her stomach, she couldn't help thinking that she'd set off something terrible.


	11. Chapter 11

11.

"These are the last of them, sir."

Bobby stared at the crates and smiled with relief. "Good work," he said, patting the other MACO on the shoulder. He turned to L'Sar and said "And these are all of them, sir. Delivered just like you asked."

"Good, good," L'Sar said, clapping his hands. "And in such an expedient manner!"

"Everything is there, according to the packing lists," Bobby said, neglecting to mention that they were the lists Sara had sent them and not rewritten lists.

"Very good," L'Sar said, inspecting the boxes. "I hope it wasn't too much trouble."

"Oh, no trouble at all," Bobby said, trying to keep conversation short. He knew that his MACOs were tired, and tired MACOs had the potential to make mistakes, and they couldn't afford to make a mistake in this case.

"Yeah, especially once we got the lists," one of the other MACOs said. "If Ensign Rhodes hadn't sent them to us, we'd still be up there packing."

The room went dead silent. Bobby stared at the MACO who had revealed their secret with dead eyes, trying not to reveal how incredibly scared and angry he now was; scared for his friend, and angry that one of his MACOs had completely blown their plan.

"What did you say?" L'Sar said calmly, clearly trying not to show his anger. The MACO who had made the slip turned pale white, finally realizing the magnitude of what he had done. He looked to Bobby, who kept his expression neutral.

"The man asked you a question, MACO," Bobby said, trying to keep his voice at an even pitch. "Answer him." He knew that all was lost, that there was no way they could retract the statement without L'Sar becoming suspicious and uncovering the truth anyways.

The MACO swallowed his terror. "If Ensign Rhodes hadn't sent us the lists, we'd still be up there packing," he said.

"THE WOMAN WAS INVOLVED WITH THIS?" L'Sar yelled, exploding with rage. He rounded on Bobby. "YOU LIED TO ME! I'LL HAVE YOUR HEADS FOR THIS, I SWEAR IT!"

"Sir, I can show you who I got of the lists from, if you'll allow it. I have the messages saved," Bobby said carefully. He pulled out the PADD and brought up the messages, then held out the PADD to L'Sar, hoping that he wouldn't trace the messages back any further.

"They were sent by Doctor Phlox to you," L'Sar read, calming down somewhat. "Then you and your men are innocent of any deception. However, I see that these were forwarded to Phlox by someone else. Allow me a moment, if you please." Bobby had no choice but to obey, and watched in horror as L'Sar successfully traced the messages to Sara's PADD.

"As I suspected," L'Sar said, shaking with rage. "You and your men may continue unloading the crates. You will not suffer punishment. I must speak with Captain Archer immediately, however. The woman will be punished." He sent an order for his judiciary council to be assembled as he hailed the Enterprise.

On the bridge of the Enterprise, the hail came in, and Archer watched with a sick feeling in his stomach as an angry L'Sar appeared on the screen, a group of men standing silently behind him. Somehow, they had been found out.

"Captain Archer, I have discovered evidence of deception by you and your crew," L'Sar said. "The lists that were sent to the men who delivered the medicine were traced back to your Ensign Rhodes. I warned you that the women were to have nothing to do with the packing of these supplies."

"Mister L'Sar, your exact words were "I will accept nothing that the women have touched," and we kept our end of the bargain. Ensign Rhodes did not touch any of the materials that you were sent."

"Yes, but we also demanded that the lists be rewritten by your doctor before they were passed on to the delivery men!" L'Sar raged. "This was not done! I myself traced the messages from Doctor Phlox back to Ensign Rhodes. I warned you that judiciary action would be taken, and I was not merely posturing! Bring Ensign Rhodes forward. I want to question her about her deception."

This was exactly what Archer had been hoping to avoid. He knew that if discovered, Sara would be unfairly punished by laws that, at least on Earth, had gone out at least a century ago. "Mister L'Sar, I gave Ensign Rhodes the order to disobey your request and forward the messages to Phlox," Archer said boldly. "I am the one who broke your law, not her. If you must punish anyone, punish me."

"Our justice system does not allow for that," L'Sar said crossly. "Since she is the one who sent the messages, she is the one who will be punished. Bring her here."

Archer turned to T'Pol with a pained expression. "Commander, please bring Ensign Rhodes to the bridge, and Doctor Phlox with her," he said quietly. T'Pol looked as close to upset as she could get, and left the bridge. As Archer turned back to face the view screen, he could see the other members of the bridge crew looked just as shocked and horrified as he felt.

L'Sar shook his head. "Sending a woman to fetch another," he said. "Your culture would be better off learning from us."

"Our culture held your views for nearly 2000 years," Archer said. "We discovered that it was better to let our women prove their worth as equals than to keep them shoved into corners and boxes. Yes, we do have major cultural differences. But where we come from, what you're doing is considered wrong, and my job as a captain is to protect ALL members of my crew, male AND female. So forgive me, Mister L'Sar, if I'm not jumping at the chance to offer one of my crew members up to a paleolithic rule."

Before L'Sar could respond, T'Pol reappeared on the bridge, followed by Phlox, Sara, and an angry-looking Ensign Liebowitz. "Ensign Rhodes, as you requested, sir," T'Pol said. She shot L'Sar a look that clearly said she thought his laws highly illogical, putting it in kind terms, and took her place again.

Sara stepped forward, her face pale. "You requested me, Captain?" she said, clearly trying to keep her voice under control. After the embarrassing incident in the shuttlepod, she was desperately trying not to cry in front of the captain again.

"Mister L'Sar wants to ask you some questions," Archer said, glaring at the man on the view screen.

"Ensign Rhodes," Mister L'Sar said, disgust evident in his voice even as he addressed her by her proper rank. "Messages you sent to Doctor Phlox were found on Sergeant Robert Neville's PADD, as he calls it. These messages contained packing lists and recipes containing items that we had requested during negotiations. Do you deny that you sent those messages?"

"I do not," Sara said.

"And do you deny that we requested the lists be rewritten by Doctor Phlox before they were passed on to the delivery persons?"

"I do not."

"And were the lists rewritten by Doctor Phlox before they were sent to Sergeant Robert Neville?"

Sara began shaking in terror for the second time that week. "No, they were not."

"Did you send those messages to Doctor Phlox with the intention of letting him pass them to Sergeant Robert Neville in a deliberate act of defiance?"

"Now wait just a minute," Phlox interrupted. "If anyone defied your orders, it was myself and the Captain, as you have undoubtedly already been told. Sara was only operating under the orders of her commanding officers, as members of Starfleet are trained to do. Punishing her for our disobedience is unjust and unfair."

"Answer the question, woman," L'Sar said, ignoring Phlox.

Sara stared L'Sar dead in the face. "I sent the messages, but it was Phlox and the Captain who ordered me to do so."

"So be it," L'Sar said. "You are judged and found guilty of first-degree disorderly disobedience and high treason. My judiciary council and I will debate on your sentence and come to deliver it in person in three hours at the most."

"WHAT?" Melody shouted as Sara slumped over, her eyes blank and staring at the wall in front of her, nearly hitting the floor before Phlox and Malcolm caught her and the entire bridge crew gasped. "What the hell kind of trial was that!? You're a barbarian, that's what you are sir! I hope those crates explode!"

"Ensign Liebowitz, please assist Ensign Rhodes to her quarters, and try to calm yourself down on the way there," Archer said, trying to sound stern. Phlox and Melody led Sara out of the room, and then Archer turned back to L'Sar, rage written on every inch of his face. "That was no trial; that was a damn circus! If I didn't know any better, the verdict was decided before Ensign Rhodes even entered the room!"

L'Sar ignored Archer's yelling and conversed with his judicial council, who all nodded. "You will turn Ensign Rhodes over to us in three hours to face her sentence. She will be informed of her fate at that time."

"I swear on everything I hold dear that if you kill her, Starfleet WILL bring military action against you," Archer said angrily. "And believe me when I say, Mister L'Sar, that I am not merely posturing either. Archer out." The screen went black and Archer slumped in his chair.

"Captain, what are we going to do?" Hoshi asked, choking back tears.

"Nothing at the moment," Archer said. "But we better start planning a way to break Ensign Rhodes out of prison now, or else we'll never be able to do it. Malcolm, did you manage to get those blueprints I asked about?"

Hours later, unaware that her coworkers were already planning her escape, Sara was in her room when a knock roused her from her stupor. She wiped her eyes and choked out an "Enter," and as soon as the door closed behind Trip, she flung herself into his arms and began crying again.

"It's gonna be alright Sara, don't worry," he said, trying to comfort her. "Captain Archer's already planning how to break you out of prison. We're not gonna let them hurt you."

"It's too late," she wailed. "They're gonna do something awful to me, I know they are. I knew I should have disobeyed Captain Archer, but I couldn't bring myself to do it."

"He didn't want you to disobey him. He wanted you to do exactly what you did."

Sara tried to wipe her tears away and looked up at Trip, the scared child on the playground pushing herself to the forefront. "You won't let them hurt me, will you Trip?"

"They'll hurt you over my dead body," he said, brushing a piece of hair out of Sara's face. There was a knock on the door, and Sara jumped backwards.

"Who is it?" she asked fearfully. Trip's heart sank as he heard "The Selfloss XII Judiciary Council. Please allow us to enter." Sara nodded to Trip, who opened the door and stood back to admit the members of the council. Sara shrank back towards her bed in terror, and Trip quickly ran and caught her before she hit the floor.

"Sara Callahan Rhodes, by unanimous vote, you will be taken into custody and brought back to Selfloss XII, to face the sentence of execution by burning tomorrow afternoon."

"NO!" Sara yelled, clinging to Trip. She looked up at him again, her eyes wild with terror. "You can't let them take me, Trip. You can't let them."

Trip wrapped his arms around Sara and pulled her close. "What the hell kind of sentence is this? All she did was follow orders! You can't take her!"

"We have our orders as well, Commander," said the head of the judiciary council. He motioned to two of the biggest men on the council, who strode forward and pulled Sara out of Trip's arms and dragged her towards the door kicking and screaming. Trip lunged forward and tried to catch Sara's hand, but was held back by two more members of the council.

"You can't do this to her!" he shouted, struggling to get away from the other council members. As soon as Sara was in the hallway, he was released and ran out the door after them.

"TRIP, HELP ME!" Sara screamed, her desperate pleas echoing down the hallways of the Enterprise. "YOU CAN'T LET THEM TAKE ME. YOU CAN'T. CAPTAIN ARCHER, TRIP, ANYBODY, PLEASE DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME." She struggled against her captors all the way into the transporter room, where they were met by a group of MACOs led by Bobby. Trip appeared in the doorway behind them almost at the same time as Captain Archer and Malcolm, and all three paused when they saw the heavily armed MACOs. Trip was hoping they'd be able to make the council let Sara go.

"Where are you taking her?" he demanded.

"She has been judged guilty and will be facing execution in the afternoon," the head of the judiciary council said shortly. "Any attempt to impede our return to the planet will result in an immediate verdict of high treason and further arrests. Please move." Bobby looked desperately at Trip, then at Captain Archer. Looking very much like he wanted to do anything else, Archer shook his head, and Bobby let the group pass to the transporters.

Sara burst into tears and kicked as hard as she could, finally landing a blow to one of her captors that brought him to the ground. The other guard let go of Sara and bent down to help his friend, and Sara saw her chance. She turned and ran for the door to the transporter room, towards Trip and freedom. She had just reached him and grabbed his outstretched hand when the Selflossians grabbed her and dragged her towards the now active transporter, her screams of terror bouncing off the walls of the transporter room.

The transporter was activated, and as they disappeared, Sara locked eyes with Trip one last time. She mouthed the words "Help me" and was gone.


	12. Chapter 12

12.

Sara was sitting in the sparse guest room that had been assigned as her quarters until her execution, staring at the white dress on the bed. She'd been allowed a final meal and two final requests by the judiciary council, and she'd thought long and hard about each before she'd sent a response back. For her final meal, she had requested as much arkume, noodles, and txokolatea sorpresa as they could fit onto the largest platters they had. Her first final request was that she be allowed to wear a white dress for her execution. The Selflossians had thought it an odd request, but granted it, and two maids had delivered a simple white dress with cap sleeves to her room. Unbeknownst to the Selflossians, the gown would be Sara's final act of defiance, a final show of her innocence. She had already decided she would wear her hair loose.

Her second request had been the company of Captain Archer's dog Porthos for a few hours before her execution. That request the Selflossians had understood perfectly; apparently, their medieval justice system regularly allowed for a person to request a comforting presence in the hours before their death. She was unsure as of yet if her second request would be granted, but she hoped that Captain Archer would allow it. If she couldn't have her children with her, Porthos would be the next best thing.

Sara choked up again thinking of her children. She knew they would be in good hands with her family, but she couldn't bear the thought of leaving them orphans so soon. She turned away from the dress on the bed and looked at the PADD sitting on the desk across the room. Knowing what she had to do next and dreading it, she walked over to the PADD and brought up the software to make a voice recording. She took a deep breath and began.

"I, Sara Callahan Rhodes, being of sound mind and body, am dictating my will hours before my unlawful execution. I have no witnesses to this and trust the goodness of my friends to carry out the wishes that I outline herein.

First, to Ensign Melody Liebowitz, I leave my Chinese dragon pin that has been engraved with "Dishonor on your cow" on the back. Melody, you are one of four people in my life who will understand the significance of that. Thank you for being such a good friend to me at a time when I needed it the most, and if you can't save me today, at least make sure you take L'Sar out at the kneecaps with one of your crutches. I will haunt you through space for all eternity if you don't.

Second, to Ensign Hoshi Sato, I leave my original French copies of "Les Miserables" and "The Little Prince" that I got on my honeymoon in Paris. Nobody else will appreciate these the way that you will, Hoshi, and I know that you'll keep them in the excellent condition that they were in when I bought them. Thank you for being the first friend I made on Enterprise and for helping me come out of my shell on the ship.

Third, to Commander Charles Tucker III, I leave the entire contents of the alcohol cabinet in my home in St. Augustine. Trust me when I say there's enough bourbon in there to keep you happy for a very long time, Trip, and plenty to share with Lieutenant Reed while drinking yourself silly for weeks. I also leave Commander Tucker my car, because he'll take good care of it, unlike a certain someone I share DNA with.

Fourth, to Doctor Phlox, I leave my entire collection of medical books and recordings, and grant him access to any and all of my medical records from my employment in San Francisco, St. Augustine, and Jacksonville, as a token of how grateful I am that he gave someone he knew for all of half an hour the assignment of a lifetime.

To my brother JJ I leave my computer equipment, and to my sister Adelle I leave my clothes, because I know the two of them have wanted some of these things for ages now. No, JJ, you don't get the Mustang; I intend to keep my word that you'd never get your hands on it since you have no concept of "speed limits," even though, oddly enough, you're a cop.

To my in-laws and my parents, I leave the most precious things in the world: my children. Guardianship of my sons and my daughter is to be split evenly between the four of you, since I know that nobody else in the world could raise them better. To my children, I leave everything else: house, books, most of my money, everything, and trust that my parents and in-laws will make sure that they are able to have everything they need to grow up healthy and relatively happy.

With regards to the money I leave behind, I dictate that 90% of it goes to my children, and the remaining 10% be split evenly amongst the other beneficiaries listed in this will. If it doesn't happen, I will haunt the person responsible for all eternity."

Sara paused, and then continued. "Finally, I have some messages for my children. If they're not in the room while this is being played, bring them in now.

Kids, I want you to know how incredibly proud I have been of you, and what an honor it has been to be your mother. I'm not going to be there anymore, but I'll be watching over you with Daddy and Aunt Lizzie, so behave yourselves.

Charlie, I want you to keep up with your homework, just like you and your brother have been doing. You're a smart boy, and if you keep it up, you'll get your wish and be able to become a doctor. Maybe you'll even join Starfleet someday. If you decide to do something else, that's all right too, but please get your education first. If you still want to be a doctor, find Doctor Phlox when you become one, because I'm sure he'd be more than willing to help you.

James, the same applies to you. Get your education, then you can do whatever you want. I know you have an eye to being a cop like your uncle JJ. Learn from him, learn from anyone and everyone you can about how to do it properly. Your grandma Jennie has your great-great-grandmother Bethan's journals; when you get old enough, you can read them and see how she did it too.

Lizzie, my littlest, my baby. Mommy is so sorry she won't be around to see you grow up. Listen to your brothers; as silly as they are right now, they know what they're doing most of the time. If they tell you to do your homework, do it. If they tell you that something is dangerous, don't do it. If you're not sure whether or not to listen to them, ask your grandparents. Take care of Bilbo, and know that Mommy is just over your shoulder.

I love you all so much, and someday, when you're very very tired and you can't stay awake anymore, you'll see me again, and we'll be together with Daddy and Aunt Lizzie. End recording."

Sara saved the recording, then walked over to the bed and gingerly reached a hand out to feel the dress she had requested. It was made of a soft material that she couldn't identify, and she was sure it would fit her perfectly. She looked in the mirror and let her hair fall down around her shoulders. She fluffed it out so it wasn't lying flat, and stared at her reflection. There were dark shadows under her red-rimmed eyes, and she looked like she hadn't slept in weeks. A knock at the door disrupted her thoughts. "Come in," she said weakly.

The door opened, and to Sara's surprise, Porthos came bounding into the room, barking happily at the site of Sara. Sara smiled and knelt down to pet him. "Hello Porthos," she said, sounding as genuinely happy as she could. "Nice of you to come see me before I go. Did Captain Archer bring you?"

"No, Captain Hernandez did." Sara looked up and saw Erika and John Collins standing by the door. She stood up quickly and saluted. Erika waved the salute off. "No need for that. I hate that old tradition."

"I'm guessing that my request got approved?" Sara said. She shook her head. "No, sorry, that was stupid. Clearly it did. I'm just not thinking straight right now."

"L'Sar approved Captain Hernandez bringing you the dog as long as I escorted her," John said. "I told him that it was the last time he'd ever see me on this planet; I've applied for and received my recall back to Nicaustra VII. I've never seen my cousin more disgusted with someone in my life." He smiled at Erika. "And Captain Hernandez has kindly agreed to give me a ride home in exchange for a place to properly regroup."

"It was nice to speak to a king who didn't mind that the Captain had cleavage," Erika said with a grin. "I'm looking forward to visiting Nicaustra VII, and hopefully having the Enterprise join us there at some point."

"That's wonderful," Sara said, managing a small smile. "I'm sure everyone will love it."

"I'm sure they will. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go pack," John said. He gave Sara an odd sort of smile. "I have a feeling you and I will see each other again, Sara. In the meantime, write me." He left the room before Sara had a chance to say anything.

"It's a shame he's wrong," Sara said with a sigh. She looked at the dress on the bed. "I won't be in a position to write to anyone in two more hours."

"Your crew wouldn't abandon you," Erika said. "I've known Jonathan, well, a long time, and I know he won't leave a crew member behind if he can help it."

"He won't be able to help it this time," Sara said quietly, sitting on the floor. Porthos crawled into her lap and Sara stroked his head gently. "I appreciate him letting me borrow Porthos for a couple hours. Would you let him know that for me?"

"I will," Erika said, studying the young woman on the floor. She'd heard much about Sara from Melody, and had found a lot to admire about the young nurse…including her ability to keep her emotions in check, at least until she was out of the public eye, and while it had been uncomfortable watching her cry, Erika had been amazed that the poor young woman hadn't burst into tears right there in the conference room.

The next two hours passed quietly. The food Sara had requested arrived, and she graciously shared it with Erika, protesting that she hadn't realized that the platters would be quite so big and there was no way she'd be able to eat it all. They chatted quietly while they ate, Sara occasionally feeding Porthos little scraps from her plate. Finally, there was a knock on the door, and a voice announced that Erika needed to leave and take Porthos with her.

Sara turned pale, but kept her composure. "Thank you, Captain Hernandez," she said, setting Porthos down on the ground and nudging him towards the door. "For everything."

"There's one more thing," Erika said. She handed Sara a PADD. "This might bring a little comfort."

Sara looked at the PADD and read the words that Captain Hernandez had highlighted; it appeared to be the last stanza of a poem:

_"Because it rains when we wish it wouldn't  
Because men do what they often shouldn't  
Because crops fail, and plans go wrong  
Some of us grumble all day long  
But somehow, in spite of the care and doubt  
It seems at last that things work out"_

Sara looked at Captain Hernandez and smiled. "Thank you," she said, handing the PADD back. "I've always enjoyed poetry. That was beautiful."

"And true as well. I'll see you soon," Erika said, leading Porthos out the door. Before the door closed behind them, Sara saw Porthos lift his leg and heard the shout of the guard who was in the line of fire. She laughed as the door closed, then realized it was the last laugh she'd ever have. She walked to the bed and changed into the white dress, then brushed her hair out. She stared at herself in the mirror again; she looked almost like a bride on her wedding day.

When the guards came for her, Sara was ready. There were no tears; she had done all her crying already. She remembered a line from a book about a death row prison that her grandmother Rosa had read to her once: "The only thing people will remember is how you go, so give them something to remember" or something like that. She couldn't remember the exact quote; she had always been more fascinated by the mouse that came back to life.

They led her out to a large public area, where a crowd had gathered in front of an elevated platform that held a single wooden pole and had a large pile of wood in front of it. The guards pushed her towards the platform, but Sara's legs had suddenly locked up; she couldn't move at all due to sheer terror. "No, oh god no," she whispered as they shoved her forwards. Sara's terror mounted and she started to struggle against her captors as she had when she'd been taken from the Enterprise. The crowd started shouting things, but Sara was completely deaf to them.

In her terror, things began to take on a dream-like quality. She felt like she wasn't even in her body anymore; it was like she was watching everything happen. She could see herself being led up the small set of stairs that had been set against the platform, and felt her back touch the pole as she was leaned against it. She looked out at the sea of faces as the executioner tied a rope around her arms and chest, and there, against all reason, amongst the unfamiliar faces, were a set of eyes that Sara would recognize anywhere.

"Trip," she whispered. And then the words of the poem Captain Hernandez had given her made perfect sense: they'd had a plan to rescue her all along. Shouts rang out from the back of the crowd, and Sara could see five or six crowd members throwing off disguises, revealing members of Columbia and Enterprise's crew. Sara watched as the guards abandoned their posts to fight the assembled rescue party, and laughed aloud as she saw Melody take out three guards by hitting them on the backs of their heads with her crutches.

Her amusement was short –lived; a voice behind her said "Light the pyre! For gods' sake, light the pyre and burn her!" She watched as torches were laid at the bottom of the pile of wood and the flames started licking at the logs almost immediately. Sara screamed at the top of her lungs, and she could see through the smoke two figures making their way towards the pyre. The executioner started to try and tie Sara's legs to the pole, but Sara, renewed by the hope that maybe she wouldn't die after all, threw her right leg out and landed a hard soccer kick to the executioner's face, causing him to fall backwards. She could hear his scream as he landed in the fire.

The smoke grew higher as the flames got closer and closer to the platform, and Sara struggled to try and free herself from the rope that bound her upper body. She turned herself sideways along the pole, trying to avoid the flames, but a spark landed on her dress and she watched in horror as her left leg caught fire. She screamed again, but the smoke was too much, and she slumped unconscious against the pole. Not even the splash of water against her leg, putting out the flames that burned her, could rouse her.

"The fire's out!" Malcolm yelled, throwing the bucket he was carrying off to one side. He rushed up the stairs, followed closely by Trip, and quickly examined Sara. "She's out cold." He pulled out a blade and cut the rope around Sara's upper body, and she fell forward into Trip's arms.

Trip picked up Sara's limp body and carried her down the stairs. "The shuttlepod! Now!" he yelled, motioning for Malcolm to follow him. He turned towards the now dissipated crowd and yelled "Ensign Liebowitz, let's go!" Melody knocked a final guard unconscious and moved as quickly as possible out of the fray. They ran for what seemed like ages, Ensign Liebowitz bringing up the rear and occasionally knocking over anyone who tried to follow them with her crutches, until they reached the rest of the rescue party at the shuttlepod.

"Everybody in, and let's get the hell out!" Jon said, herding his crew and John Collins into the shuttlepod. He looked at the young ambassador and smiled as the shuttlepod doors closed and they took off. "We owe you, sir. Let us know if there's anything you need from Enterprise, and we'll do it."

"It was no trouble," John said, wiping some blood from his broken lip. "I already got my trade agreement signed, and I needed something exciting to do anyways."

"And if it hadn't been signed?"

John grinned up at the captain. "I would have done it anyways. Screw making agreements with this planet ever again. If my cousin tries to send me back here a second time, I'll resign my commission."

Meanwhile, in the back of the shuttlepod, Trip was desperately trying to revive Sara, who in the interim had stopped breathing. "Come on, Sara, don't do this," he muttered as he tried to bring his friend around. "Don't die on me like this." After a few minutes, when he had all but given up hope that the rescue breathing would work, Sara coughed loudly and opened her eyes. She looked around uncomprehendingly, and then her eyes fell on Trip. She managed a small smile.

"You promised," she said, sounding happy.

"I promised," Trip said, trying to hide the emotion in his voice.

"Where are we going?"

"We're going home, to Enterprise."

Sara nodded. "I can't wait to go home," she whispered, and drifted off to sleep, Trip's hand firmly locked in her own.


	13. Chapter 13

13.

"How long has she been like this?" Trip asked, staring down at the figure on the floor. He had never seen Sara this drunk before; in fact, he had never seen her drunk at all. When Phlox had called him to Sickbay, Trip had been sure he was joking. But when he'd entered Sickbay, there was Sara, sitting by the bat's cage with Fuzzy on her shoulder, feeding her from a container and laughing hysterically to herself.

"A couple hours now," Phlox said, shaking his head. "I keep telling her that she doesn't need to come feed Fuzzy because she's still on leave, but she still comes. This is the first time she's shown up intoxicated, though."

Trip sighed. "I'll get her back to her quarters. Come on, Sara, time to go to bed." He bent down and helped the drunken woman to her feet, then slung one of her arms around his neck to help her walk. He led her out of the infirmary and towards her quarters, Sara giggling the entire way.

"You were right, Trip," she slurred, grinning stupidly. "Bourbon is FUN."

"Yes, yes it is," Trip said, trying to ignore the kissy noises Sara was making in his ear. "Just not when you drink that much by yourself."

"It wasn't that much," Sara said stubbornly. "Just a little."

When they reached Sara's room, however, it became apparent that the opposite was true, if the number of empty bottles that Trip had to move off the bed before he deposited Sara on it were any indication.

"Sara, I think you've got a problem here."

"Yeah, the problem is I'm out of bourbon."

"No, seriously. There are 5 empty bottles here. You've been on medical leave for five days. This is not a good thing."

"Stops my leg hurting better than the painkillers," Sara said, waving her hands in the air. "Makes the pain go POOF! away." She sat up and giggled again.

Trip sighed again. "No more bourbon," he said, sitting down next to her on the bed. "You're gonna get yourself killed drinking a bottle a day. Even I don't drink that much on leave."

"I feel fine though!"

"Yeah, for now. In a couple hours, you're gonna be vomiting and swearing and feeling like you're going to die."

"Yeah, but I feel fine right now," Sara insisted. She wrapped her arms around Trip's shoulders and leaned in close. "I feel VERY fine. Very very very fine."

"Oh for the love of god," Trip said, trying to move Sara's arms. "You're REALLY drunk."

"Please?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because you're drunk."

"I see no problem with that."

"You don't, but I do," Trip said, finally disengaging Sara's arms. He held her wrists firmly in his so she couldn't move them again and looked her straight in the eyes. "If this was going to happen, I'd much rather it happened when BOTH of us were sober. This isn't you, Sara, and I don't want us to do this when you're not yourself."

"Then what do you want?"

"Talk to me," Trip said gently. "Tell me what's going on. Tell me why you've been drinking all this bourbon. Tell me something hilarious, tell me something disgusting or wrong, it doesn't matter. Just talk to me."

Sara's eyes filled with tears, and Trip quietly thanked every deity he could think of that he'd managed to get her to her room and closed the door before he made her cry. But what came out of her mouth next was completely unexpected. "I saw them," she whispered. "My husband. My grandmother. Elizabeth. Before you woke me up, I saw them."

"You saw Lizzie?"

Sara nodded. "They were waiting for me. They were going to take me with them. I was so close…I could hear Elizabeth's voice. It had been so long, I'd forgotten what she sounded like. She was calling to me. So was Andrew. So was my grandmother. I could hear all three of them. And then I woke up, and they were gone. But I can still hear them, in my head sometimes. In my dreams. When I was in Sickbay, I could still hear them. I begged Phlox to give me sedatives so I wouldn't dream about them anymore, but he said they'd go away. When I got out, they didn't. The bourbon made them stop." She started sobbing. "I just wanted them to stop."

Trip pulled Sara close and put his arms around her, letting her cry on his shoulder. "Phlox was right. They'll stop eventually. This isn't the way to do it, though."

"I don't know what else to do," Sara said, her voice muffled by Trip's uniform. "I'd talk to my kids or my parents, but they're not here, and I couldn't write to John because he's off on another assignment and negotiations apparently aren't going well."

"And what am I, chopped liver?"

"You've got your own set of problems to worry about," Sara pointed out. "With the damage the engines have been taking since the war started and a host of other things on this ship. I didn't want to dump my problems on you too."

"Well, I appreciate your consideration, but it's a little late for that now. You need anything, you get me, or you have someone find me, you got it?"

Sara nodded. "I got it."

"I'm gonna look out for you as best I can while we're out here together. I promised your momma as much when I wrote to her to let her know we'd rescued you, and I intend to keep that promise. You get some rest now, try and sleep off that bourbon, OK?"

Sara sat up and wiped her eyes on her own sleeve, then started looking around the room muttering to herself. "What now?" Trip asked, worrying that she was looking for more bourbon.

"Trash can," Sara muttered. "Just in case." In short order, the trash can was found and placed next to Sara's bed. By the time Trip left the room to attend to a disturbance in the engine room, Sara was fast asleep.

Hours later, Sara sat up and looked around. She felt her head, and it was clammy, a clear sign that she had been sick at some point; a quick inspection of the garbage can next to her bed confirmed it. She wrinkled her nose and disposed of the bag quickly, along with the empty bourbon bottles. She stripped off her clothes and climbed into the shower, letting the hot water flow over her for god knows how long before washing her hair and cleaning the scent of bourbon from her body.

She walked back into her room and changed into a new pair of standard issues, then wrapped herself in a fluffy burgundy bathrobe that she'd packed in her bag before leaving Earth. She hadn't been thinking of bringing it, but her mother had said that there would probably be some night when she'd need it, so she popped it into her duffle and used it to safely transport family pictures. She sat on the bed and leaned back, just taking a moment to relax and try and remember what the last thing she had done was. She turned the same color as her bathrobe when she had a vague remembrance of hitting on Trip.

A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts. "Come in," she said. The door opened, and Sara groaned and buried her face in her hands as Trip walked in. "Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, not all that happy to see you. I'm starting to remember the bourbon haze and I'm embarrassed as hell."

"Then I guess you don't want the food I brought."

Sara peeked out from between her fingers and noticed the trays of food. "…you can stay…" she said cautiously. "Just please, for the love of all things sacred, do not judge me for drunkenly hitting on you."

"If that's the only stupid thing you do while you're drunk, you're a pretty lightweight drunk."

"Lightweight?" Sara said, sounding a little offended. "I drank an entire bottle of bourbon and didn't die!"

Trip snorted. "Did you get sick?"

"I don't remember, but the garbage can's contents before I got rid of them said I did, and fairly violently."

"Then yeah, lightweight."

"Oddly enough, I'm hungry as hell," Sara said, digging into the food. She chewed it thoughtfully. "Hey, Chef didn't burn anything today!"

"I know, it's a miracle," Trip said, halfway through his food already. "I don't usually eat anything Chef's made this fast."

Dinner was mercifully uneventful, and after they were finished eating and Sara had brushed her teeth, insisting that she didn't want to subject anyone to roast beef breath, they sat around talking for a while about random things, when Sara remembered something that had been bothering her since she woke up.

"Hey, when I was drunk…there's something that you said that I've been trying to figure out."

"And what's that?"

"When I was hitting on you, you said that you didn't want us to do anything when I wasn't myself."

"Yeah, I remember that."

Sara paused, unable to look Trip in the eye as she asked the next question. "Um…I was just wondering…I have to ask…did that mean you'd considered…with me…doing something…um…yeah, you know what? Just forget I even brought it up."

"That's not a question you can easily forget, you know."

"Yeah, but I think it would do both of us a world of good if you just forget I even tried to ask it."

"Well…"

"Well what?"

"Don't you want to know what my answer is?"

Sara's head was back in her hands from embarrassment once more. It was almost as if she were still drunk and doing something even worse to make an ass of herself. "I'm not sure I should."

"It's yes, by the way."

Sara looked up with a look on her face that could only be described as "Deer in the Headlights." "…what…"

It was Trip's turn to look embarrassed. "Well, yes…" he muttered.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Um, wow," Sara said, unsure of how to react. "This is new."

"This is very new."

"Since when?"

"The last month or so."

"It is very new then."

"What about you?"

"Me?"

"Besides in a bourbon-induced haze, have you ever thought…"

"Um, a few times. When I was a teenager mostly."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. I kinda had a crush on you back then. Elizabeth teased me about it a lot until college."

"She would. How long'd this crush go for? Even when you were married?"

Sara stuck her tongue out at Trip. "By the time I was married, I was over you."

"So if I were to kiss you right now, you wouldn't feel anything?"

Sara blinked. "I haven't had sex since before my daughter was born. Of course I'd feel something."

"Three years? It's been that long?"

"I had other things to worry about."

"Not even…"

"Yeah, difficult to do that with kids knocking on your door all the time."

"So three years with nothing."

"Yup. So if you were to kiss me right now, you'd definitely get a reaction."

"Challenge accepted." And before Sara could ask what he meant, Trip leaned over and kissed her.

It had been a long time since Sara had kissed someone who wasn't her husband; hell, it had been three years since Sara had kissed anybody. Kissing someone she'd known for years, someone she considered a friend, hadn't been part of Sara's plans, but for some reason, it felt right. More than that, it felt comforting; more comforting than the bourbon or her bathrobe, which she instinctively took off and flung to the floor.

"A little much for one kiss, isn't it?" Trip said when they'd broken apart.

"I told you that you'd get a reaction," Sara said. Her heart was racing; there was definitely a reaction.

"We do this, it changes everything."

"I know."

"Before we do, what do you want?"

"Comfort," Sara said. "I just want to feel anything other than how I've been feeling. You?"

"I'd be lying if I said I was all right after watching you nearly get murdered. So we're agreed. Comfort."

"Yeah, comfort."

"Good to know."

"Trip?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up," Sara said, pulling Trip into another kiss and praying that nobody would try and pay a visit until after he was gone. There was a flurry of zippers and blues going in every direction, and then they were lying in Sara's bed, as physically close as two people could get.

It was different; different than it had been with Andrew. The movements were slower, more deliberate, and oddly enough, more tender in a way. Every move made Sara's skin feel like it was on fire, every kiss felt new and exciting. In her most secret dreams, Sara had never imagined that it could be like this with anyone, much less Trip. Somehow, he knew exactly what she wanted, and when, and how, and it was extremely difficult to keep her moans of pleasure quiet so that nobody knew what was going on.

When they finally finished together, exhausted and covered in sweat, Sara rolled over and faced the door to her bathroom, trying to catch her breath. She smiled as she felt Trip's arm go around her waist and pull her close, resting his head on her shoulder and then gently kissing her neck. Her heart was still racing, faster than her mind, and neither was telling her that this had been a good idea.

The thing that she found extremely odd? Neither her heart nor her head was telling her it had been a bad idea either.


	14. Chapter 14

14.

"You do realize that I have to get up eventually, right?"

Trip grinned at Sara. "I know, but eventually isn't right now, is it?"

"Jerk," Sara said, rolling over in bed and pretending to ignore him. She giggled as he pulled her towards him, and she rolled onto her back and looked up at him. "I really do have to get going. I have to feed Fuzzy before movie night, and I have reports I need to file too. Besides, keep it up, and someone's going to come investigate why I'm giggling so much."

"You're no fun, you realize that, right?"

"You weren't complaining about that five minutes ago," Sara said, sticking her tongue out at him. The communications panel near her door buzzed, and Phlox's voice filled the room.

"Sara, are you there?"

Sara jumped out of bed and put her bathrobe on, then looked at Trip and motioned for him to stay quiet. "I'm here, Phlox. What is it?"

"I need to pay a visit to Ensign Connors' quarters. Could you come in a little bit sooner to keep Sickbay under control? There's no telling how long it'll take me; god only knows what Ensign Connors has done to himself this time…"

Sara looked at the console, then looked at Trip and stuck her tongue out at him again. "Sure Phlox, I'll be there. I need ten minutes, though. Will that be all right?"

"Ten minutes is fine. Thank you, Sara."

"You're welcome," Sara said, closing out the communications. She searched the room for her standard issues, and then got dressed, ignoring Trip pouting in her bed.

"And I'm so easily forgotten," he said sarcastically.

Sara turned around, zipped up her uniform, and saluted Trip. "Sorry commander, but duty calls. You'll have to find a way to amuse yourself before Movie Night. However, I'd prefer you don't do it in my bed unless I'm there."

"Fine," Trip said, pretending to be grumpy. "I guess I can check the engines or something."

"You're telling me you really have nothing better to do than try to keep me in bed? Isn't there a water polo game on or something?"

"…that's a good point," Trip said, getting out of Sara's bed and getting dressed, glaring at Sara when she teasingly whistled at him. "You're not funny."

"Yes I am," Sara said with a grin, fixing her hair in the mirror. "There we go. None the wiser." She crossed the room and gave Trip an affectionate peck on the cheek. "See you for the movie."

"What is it tonight?"

"Les Miserables, I think. The musical version." Sara opened the doors to her room and walked out, grinning to herself. She knew that Trip hated musicals, and also that there was no way for him and Malcolm to get out of seeing the movie with them that night.

Trip groaned and followed her out of the room. "Oh god, not another musical."

"Hey, you liked the last one!" Sara pointed out.

"There weren't period costumes involved."

"Technically, there were, since it took place in the 1960s," Sara said with a grin.

"The music was good."

"I'll give you that. In any case, there's no way you can get out of it. You and Malcolm promised me and Hoshi." Sara cackled to herself as Trip's groan of annoyance followed her down the hallway to Sickbay.

When Sara reached Sickbay, Phlox was nowhere to be found. Sara assumed that Phlox would be a while, if she even saw him before her shift ended. When Ensign Connors got into something, it usually took a few hours to get him cured, or sedated enough for any sort of treatment. She picked up the first PADD and started working on the reports that needed to be filed.

After many hours and a lot of growling over spelling and grammatical errors in the reports, Sara finished the reports and stacked the PADDs in a container in the corner of Sickbay so she could find them later. She picked up a container of snow beetles and walked over to Fuzzy's cage.

"Hello old friend," she said with a smile, opening the door to the cage. Fuzzy made a squeaking noise and hopped out of the cage and onto Sara's left shoulder. Sara chuckled. "Oh, you must have missed me. It's been a rough three months, but I'm back. I promise I haven't forgotten you."

Fuzzy hopped down Sara's arm and sat on her hand, staring intently up at her as if she understood everything Sara had said. She nudged the container insistently, and Sara laughed again. "All right, all right," she said, opening the container and taking out a few snow beetles. "Here you go, Miss Impatient." She heard the door open behind her and turned around to see who had come in and grinned; it was Hoshi, looking like she was about to dissolve into giggles.

"Clearly Fuzzy missed you," she said, letting the doors close behind her.

"Clearly," Sara said, putting Fuzzy back into her cage and closing the door. "Let me get these beetles put away and wash my hands, and we'll go."

For a change, Hoshi sounded hesitant. "In a bit," she said as Sara wandered around Sickbay cleaning up.

Sara looked up from the hand sanitizer quizzically at her friend. "What's up?"

Hoshi looked over her shoulder at the door, then joined Sara at the counter. "You'll keep a secret, won't you?"

"Of course," Sara said, raising an eyebrow. "Are you pregnant or something?"

Hoshi laughed. "No, thank god," she said. "What would I do with a baby out here? It's something else, though."

"OK, I'll bite. What is it?"

Hoshi blushed. "I'm pretty sure I'm in love with someone."

"Ooh, Hoshi!" Sara squealed, clapping her hands happily. "Who's the lucky crew member?"

"There's a bit of a problem," Hoshi said, looking sheepish. "He's kind of a superior officer and a friend of ours, and I'm really feeling awkward about it."

"And which friend would this be?"

Hoshi muttered something, but Sara couldn't hear her. "What was that?"

"Trip," Hoshi muttered again, turning red.

A thousand thoughts raced through Sara's mind, but only one was truly in focus: That Hoshi deserved happiness, and if Trip could make her happy, he should be available to do so. "He's a cutie," Sara said, waggling her eyebrows. "I say go for it. You certainly wouldn't be the first person aboard a starship to go after a higher up."

"Yeah, but you were drunk off your ass," Hoshi said with a giggle.

"Oh, if you only knew," Sara thought, but what she said was "You told me you wouldn't judge me for that! Anyways, I'm sure there are people on other starships who have hooked up with commanding officers. And you know he's a good guy. As probably his oldest friend, I give you my blessing and say go for it. You deserve to see if he can make you happy."

Hoshi beamed. "You think I have a shot?"

"I think you do," Sara said with a genuine smile. "Now let's go before the good seats get taken."

The entire time the film played, Sara's mind was elsewhere. She knew that giving Hoshi a chance at happiness was important, but there was a selfish part of her that wanted to keep Trip all for herself, even though she knew that she wasn't in love with him.

It wasn't until near the end of the film, at the beginning of the song "A Little Fall of Rain," that everything fell into place in Sara's mind. When it did, Sara's eyes filled with tears. She knew exactly what she had to do, and when she had to do it. The knowledge of what she was going to do combined with the sadness of the song caused her to burst into tears, the only saving grace being that the song was so damned sad that most of the audience was crying as well. But out of the corner of her eye, Sara could see Trip's concerned expression; she knew he realized there was something wrong. She knew that he would be coming later to try and get her to talk.

So when he entered her quarters nearly an hour later, Sara was prepared. She knew exactly what she was going to say, and how she was going to say it. She wiped her eyes, still filled with tears from the movie and everything in her head, on the sleeve of her bathrobe and smiled.

"I've been expecting you," she said. "Can't get anything past you, even in a dark theater, can I?"

"I know you too well."

"That's kind of the problem," Sara said, playing with the hem of her bathrobe.

"Did someone find out about us?" Trip asked. "Did you get yelled at or something?"

"No, but I found out there's a major impediment."

"And what's that?"

"There's someone else on this ship who deserves you more than me."

"And pray tell, who's that?"

"I promised them I wouldn't tell."

"Oh bullshit. Sara, tell me."

"It wouldn't be fair to them. I know I can't have everything be as fair as I want it to be, but in this case, I can do something to make things be fair to everyone. Our arrangement isn't fair to you, and it's not fair to the other person who thinks you could make them happy and wants to give it a chance."

"And who says it's not fair to me?"

"Because if you ask yourself if it's worth it to keep sleeping with someone you don't love, you'll figure it out."

"Who says I don't love you?"

Sara cocked her head to one side and smiled sadly. "Do you?"

Trip leaned against the door and stared at his feet. He knew that Sara was right; their arrangement wasn't really as fair as they'd made it out to be for the past three months. He did care about Sara, but he had to be honest with her since she'd asked. "No," he said to the floor. "Not like that."

Sara chuckled. "Then it's not fair to you to keep this up," she said gently. "You've been my friend for years, and for the last 3 months, you've made me feel probably as safe as I've ever felt out here. I care about you, and I always will, but I don't love you that way either, and I probably never will, and neither of us should wait it out to see if it happens."

They were both quiet for a moment, each knowing that the other was right. "So, you're really not going to tell me who this other person is?" Trip said with a grin. "If we're really still friends, you'd tell me who my secret admirer is, you know."

Sara's worry melted away; everything was going to be all right after all. "Look, I seriously can't tell you," she said, giggling a little. "But I think Hoshi has some more information about it. She knows who it is and will probably cave way easier than I will."

"And she won't disobey a direct order from a superior officer just because she's known him for decades," Trip said, perking up. He walked over to the bed and kissed Sara on the top of her head. "Thanks kid." He walked to the door, and then paused before he left and turned to Sara again, saying something she never thought she'd ever hear from him. "Oh, and by the way? You were right. But if you ever tell anyone I said that, I'll deny the hell out of it."

Sara grinned, and wrapped her bathrobe tighter around herself. She looked around her room for her PADD, then brought up an address once she found it and began to write.

_"Dear John,_

_Remember that thing I told you was going on with Commander Tucker? Well, it's not a thing anymore, and you'll never believe why. But you have to swear when you write back that you won't tell a soul that I told you, or Hoshi'll kick my ass…"_


	15. Chapter 15

15.

"Are you all right?"

Sara picked her head up from the table in the mess and looked up at Hoshi. "I don't think so," she said. "I've had the flu for a week now and I feel awful. I probably look like death."

Hoshi had to admit, Sara wasn't exaggerating; she looked legitimately awful. Usually she was cheery and talkative, gesticulating with her fork and spoon, complaining about Chef's cooking with the rest of them at the table. But the last week, today in particular, she'd not been her usual self. In fact, instead of teasing Hoshi and Trip about holding hands under the table when she'd joined them, Sara had sat down at the table without food and immediately put her head down on the table.

"Maybe you should go to Sickbay," Malcolm said, looking as concerned as the others.

"In a bit, when the mess stops spinning," Sara said, putting her head back down on the table. "You guys finish eating, and if I have to make a run for it, don't follow unless you want to be grossed out and hear some extremely colorful profanity."

Travis patted Sara on the back affectionately. "You'll be all right. We'll get you to Sickbay and Phlox'll fix you up."

It was decided that since Trip and Hoshi were Sara's best friends and could probably better deal with any unexpected instances of physical illness, they would be the ones to take Sara to Sickbay. When they'd finished eating, the couple marched Sara out of the mess hall, grinning at her weak insistences that Travis and Malcolm were wimps if they couldn't handle the possibility of a little unexpected vomit.

When they arrived, Phlox insisted on running every test he could think of on Sara to determine the cause of her illness. Sara lay on one of the cots, curled up in the fetal position and trying not to be sick. After what seemed like an eternity, the test results came in, and Trip and Hoshi helped Sara sit up so she could find out what the hell was wrong with her.

Phlox picked up the test results and turned five different colors in under thirty seconds. He looked at Sara, then at Trip, then at Hoshi, then down at the results again. He looked, for the first time in his life, like he desperately wanted to be anywhere but in Sickbay at the moment, and suddenly wished he wasn't as good at figuring things out on the fly as he was.

"So, what is it?" Sara asked. "What's wrong with me?"

Phlox blinked and was quiet for a few moments. When he finally did speak, it knocked everyone in Sickbay into silence. "You're pregnant. Eight weeks exactly, according to this." Fuzzy, in her cage, let out a massively loud shriek, unknowingly providing the most accurate response to the news that could be given.

Sara's head began to spin. Now she understood Phlox's reaction; given the current state of Trip and Hoshi's relationship, the news that Sara was pregnant was the relationship equivalent of a nuclear bomb. And then the worst of it hit her: clearly, Phlox had figured out who the father was without the aid of DNA testing. "Jesus Christ," Sara swore aloud. She dared a look at her friends; Hoshi looked confused, and Trip looked positively terrified. Phlox muttered something about needing to see the captain about confining Ensign Connors to quarters and beat the hastiest retreat in history out of Sickbay, not wanting to be around when the inevitable explosion happened.

"What the hell?" Hoshi said, finally able to speak. "How did you get pregnant? I mean, I know HOW it happens, but how? You weren't having sex with anyone!"

"Um, funny you should mention that…" Sara said with a weak laugh. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Trip moving shiftily towards the doors to Sickbay, ready to break into a run.

"So, you WERE having sex?"

"Yes."

"Well damn, nice of you to not tell me!"

Sara desperately wanted to avoid the subject going any further. "Birth control must have gotten fucked up because of the stress I've been under the last few months," she muttered, making sure she was loud enough for Trip to hear.

"Um, hi, back to the other part of the subject," Hoshi said, waving her hand in front of Sara's face. "Who's the lucky father?"

"I wouldn't call him lucky…"

Hoshi raised an eyebrow. "Sara, why won't you tell me?" she asked, looking at Trip to hopefully provide assistance in getting the information out of Sara. And then it hit her; Sara's attempts at dodging her questions. The way Trip refused to look her in the eye when she looked to him for help. It all made sense.

"You have GOT to be FUCKING KIDDING ME!" Hoshi shouted. "REALLY? FUCKING REALLY?"

Sara lay back down on the cot and winced. "It wasn't for the reason you think it was," she muttered. "But please, can we do this when I feel less like vomiting everywhere?"

"WHEN? WHY?"

"While Sara was on medical leave," Trip muttered, staring at the floor. "Stopped around the middle of last month, before we got together."

"BUT WHY?"

Sara sat up and looked at Hoshi. "Have you ever wanted to do anything to stop feeling a certain way?" she asked. "That's why. Getting burned at the stake, even nearly burned? That fucks up a person's head. I was seeing dead family members in my dreams, I was having nightmares, I couldn't sleep. The people I could talk to about it had problems of their own, and the only person I could write to about it was unavailable due to job issues. So I decided to bourbon my troubles away. Which worked for five days, until I apparently decided to show up here drunk to feed Fuzzy. That night, after I'd sobered up? Yeah, that when it happened the first time. Three months. Three months where I could finally sleep without waking up screaming or wanting to drown in an alcohol bottle. Three months when I felt safe for the first time in ages. It wasn't love. It was comfort."

"I can't fucking believe this," Hoshi said angrily. "You're supposed to be my best friend!"

"I still am, you know. Because if I wasn't your friend? I'd still be fucking him."

"And how do I know you're not? You've already gotten yourself knocked up without anyone knowing."

Sara was stung by the jab at her newly-discovered unborn child, the maternal feelings kicking in already. "You leave my pregnancy out of this, goddamnit," she snapped back, putting her hand over her still-flat stomach. "Whatever's in there, boy or girl, they didn't ask for this. So you leave the innocent party in this mess the fuck out of it, got it?"

Hoshi, for the moment, was stunned into silence. Trip decided now was a good time to let the girls argue it out on their own and snuck out of Sickbay to tend the engines, making a mental note to talk to Sara about the pregnancy later, when she and Hoshi weren't ready to scratch their eyes out. The girls were so angry that they didn't even know he had left.

"Now you listen to me," Sara continued, sounding just as angry as Hoshi. "Yes, it was wrong. Yes, I probably should have mentioned that I'd slept with Trip before the two of you got together, and I'm sorry that this is how, of all ways, you had to find out. But the minute you told me that you were in love with him, it was done. Because I COULDN'T DO THAT TO MY FRIEND. The day after I told you to go for it was the day you two got together, and the day I told you to go for it was the last day I was ever with him, and it was long before you came to Sickbay and told me how you felt. It was over by lunchtime.

So yeah, I fucked him. And now I'm pregnant, and he's the father. And yeah, I fucked up MAJORLY by not telling you about the whole thing. Be mad at me. Hate me. Never speak to me again. But Trip? He LOVES you. I've never seen him happier in the entire time I've known him than he's been since the two of you got together, and I'm pretty sure he feels just as awful as I do right now about how upset you are. If you're going to forgive one of us, forgive him. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to my quarters, vomit my intestines up, and let my children know they're getting a new sibling."

Sara gingerly climbed off the cot and staggered out of Sickbay, leaving Hoshi speechless behind her. She mentally made a note of what she needed to do next; unfortunately, she hadn't been joking when she'd told Hoshi she needed to vomit. She managed to hold off until she reached her quarters, and then ran to the bathroom. "Vomit up my intestines: check," she muttered to herself as she rinsed her mouth out and stripped off her uniform. She inspected it to see if she'd been sick on it at all, and thanked every deity she could think of that the uniform was still clean. She put on her bathrobe and wandered back over to her bed. Sara climbed into bed and rolled onto her side to think.

She had, of course, always wanted to be a mother again, but after Andrew's death, Sara had gently given up on the notion of having any more children. She mentally kicked herself repeatedly that she and Trip hadn't been more careful; they had been incredibly stupid about the whole thing. Worse, she had probably ruined his career and almost certainly ruined her own; pregnant crew members could not be on active duty, and she'd have to go back to Earth, and transit back to Earth in the middle of a war was incredibly risky and dangerous.

Sara reached for the PADD sitting on her end table and opened a new message. She sat up slowly and began to write to the one person she knew probably wouldn't judge her and may even be able to help her get home.

_"Dear John,_

_Your last letter had me in hysterics for a good hour. I have it saved in a special folder so I can read it the next time I need a laugh. Which is good, because I desperately need a laugh right now: I just found out that I'm pregnant. Commander Tucker, of course, is the father, and Hoshi is incredibly pissed off at both of us. I may or may not have snapped back at her when she screamed at me, even though I'd be pissed off too if it were me in this situation._

_I haven't written to my family yet to tell them about it. Quite frankly, I'm too scared to tell them at the moment. I know I have to, but for years I've had the nasty habit of putting off the inevitable when I'm scared of it, and I'm falling back on that now. I haven't had the awkward conversation about the pregnancy with Trip yet either; the bastard snuck out of Sickbay while Hoshi and I were screaming at each other and even though he's probably down in Engineering, I have no desire to see him or speak to him right now for the same reason I haven't told my family; I'm terrified._

_I know you have more pressing problems to deal with than a pregnant and terrified pen pal, but I was hoping that you could find a way to help me. Pregnant women cannot serve on active duty on a starship, and once Captain Archer finds out about this, I'll be taken off of active duty for sure until they can figure out a way to get me safely to Earth. Given the current state of affairs with the war, not only would this most likely not happen until after the baby is born, it's a distinct possibility and a great fear of mine that me and the new baby wouldn't survive the trip back to Earth since the Romulans have decided that they want to shoot at everything that even looks like a Starfleet ship._

_If there's any way that you could help me get home to Earth safely with my baby when he or she is born, I would be extremely grateful. Any other help or advice you could provide would be amazing as well, and I'd be grateful for any sort of help at the moment._

_Hoping to hear from you soon,_

_A very scared and eight weeks pregnant Sara Callahan Rhodes."_

Sara pressed send and set the PADD aside. She leaned back against the bed, her hand on her stomach. Another baby. It was too early to tell if she was having a boy or a girl. She smiled at the thought of another girl; she would call her Rosa, after her grandmother. A boy would probably be named after…well, she wasn't sure. Probably Trip. Maybe John if he could get her home safely to her family.

A knock at the door stirred her from her thoughts. Scared to death that it was Hoshi come for round 2, Sara bid whoever was at the door come in, and was extremely relieved to see it was Phlox. "You have no idea how glad I am it's you," she said. She motioned for Phlox to have a seat and scooted to the end of her bed so she could better speak to her friend.

"I understand that you and Hoshi had some words after I left."

"More like "screamed so loud at each other we drove Trip to sneak out of the room and probably traumatized Fuzzy" than just simply having words," Sara said. "At the moment, I'm fairly certain she hates me. I'd hate me too if I were her."

"It is a fairly awkward situation," Phlox conceded, ignoring Sara's derisive snort at the use of the word "fairly" to describe the mess. "But at least Trip isn't the one who is pregnant this time."

Sara raised an eyebrow. "When I'm less panicky, you are telling me that story from beginning to end," she said. "It's actually a good thing that you're here. I wanted to discuss what I do next. Given my history of pregnancy complications and the fact that I'm pregnant on a starship in the middle of a war, I think that I should be put on strict bed rest."

Phlox eyed Sara with a look that clearly said he'd heard between the lines. "We'll deal with any complications as they arise. IF they arise. I refuse to put you on bed rest for nonexistent complications just so you can hide from Hoshi, Sara."

Sara buried her face in her hands. "I'm doomed when this gets out, Phlox. I'll be the outcast kid in the sandbox, and it's my own fault. How could Trip and I be so damn stupid?"

"After the mutual trauma the two of you have experienced in the past months, it's not at all surprising that you would turn to each other for comfort. Even less surprising is that neither of you thought it through beforehand. These things happen more than you think. What we can do now is make sure you're healthy and well cared for at the moment. You also would be wise to discuss with Trip whether or not you wish to continue the pregnancy, given the circumstances, although knowing the both of you, I have a feeling that is going to be an easy decision."

Sara grinned. "I already started thinking of girl names," she said, picking her head up. "My brain has already gone into Mommy Mode without telling me. I'll talk to Trip eventually, and I know I have to talk to Captain Archer about it as well. I just can't do it right now."

Phlox patted Sara's hand affectionately. "You'll do it in your own time," he said. "Right now, you should get some rest. You've had quite the eventful afternoon, and since there aren't many reports that need to be filed, I'm willing to give you the rest of your shift off to rest. If I find you in Sickbay at all, even to feed Fuzzy, I will be very displeased."

"Thanks Phlox," Sara said. "For the added naptime and also for not judging me for this."

"You're not the first ensign I've seen in this situation," Phlox said with a small grin. "And I am sure you won't be the last. But you're the first one who has also been a close friend of mine as well as a colleague, and I know you well enough to know that you're just as shocked and upset as Hoshi and Trip. It's impossible to make a judgement when you've done nothing wrong." He stood up and left the room.

Sara smiled at the closed door, and then laid down on her bed to sleep. Instead of nightmares, there came calming dreams. Dreams of her parents, her friends, and a little baby with his or her father's eyes and Sara's hair.


	16. Chapter 16

**For anyone wondering why I've suddenly posted 12 chapters in one day, I was informed by BonesBird that I needed to catch the hell up to her so we can post together, since our stories overlap. For some reason, I feared what would happen if I didn't, even though there's an ocean in between us and she doesn't know my street address...yet... - Anna**

* * *

16.

"Come in."

The doors of Captain Archer's ready room opened, and he looked up to see who was there. To his surprise, it was a very nervous-looking Sara.

"Ensign Rhodes, this is a surprise," he said, motioning for her to sit down. "What can I do for you?"

Sara sat down and stared at the floor like a naughty child. "I'm pregnant, sir," she muttered.

Jon blinked. "Come again, Ensign?"

"I'm pregnant, sir," Sara said a little louder. "Phlox was running tests to see why I've been so sick lately, and apparently I'm pregnant."

For one of the first times in his life, Jonathan Archer was speechless. It was unspoken amongst the crew that there were a few relationships, but this was the first time anyone had ever ended up pregnant. He was very nearly at a loss for words completely. "You know you won't be able to stay on active duty," he said.

"I know," Sara nodded. "And I also know that I'll be sent back to Earth."

"Which will be difficult to do safely in the middle of a war."

"I've actually thought of a way to get myself home," she said. "I sent a message to Ambassador Collins, asking if he knew of a way to get past the Romulan ships and get me home safely. I had a reply shortly before I came here; he says that if you leave me on Nicaustra VII when we rendezvous with Columbia, he'll use the Nicaustran fleet to bring me home. He says that most of them look like trade barges, so they could get past the Romulans easily."

"It seems you've thought this through."

"You have your crew to worry about. You don't need to worry about how to get one wayward pregnant ensign home to her family and imminent disgrace. With all due respect, Captain Archer, you worry about the crew, and I'll worry about getting me home. You and the crew shouldn't have to be put into even more danger because I was an idiot."

Jon couldn't help but smile. "You didn't do this on your own, Ensign. Don't feel like you have to place every bit of blame on yourself."

"I just don't want the father to get in trouble," Sara said. "Let it all fall on me. I don't want his career to be ruined because of this."

Something about the way Sara spoke struck Jon as odd, as if she were implying… "Ensign Rhodes, I know this is an intrusive question, but is the father a superior officer?"

Sara nodded. "Yes sir. A, um, very superior officer…higher up than lieutenant…"

Jon mentally ran through the officers higher than lieutenant, and he realized there was only one person that could be the father of Sara's baby, given how close they were. "It's Commander Tucker, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir," Sara said, now sounding very much like a naughty child. "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't think…I was so stressed and it must have…messed something up…made it ineffective…just please don't let Trip lose his career over this."

"Calm down, Ensign. Neither one of you are going to lose your careers over this. You'll be allowed to serve on another ship when the pregnancy is done, and until then, you'd probably be sent back to Jacksonville."

Sara looked infinitely relieved. "Thank you, Captain. I guess I'm just panicking too much. The last two times I did this, I was at home, with family. I don't know what to do with this one; my family's too far away, and this is unfamiliar territory."

"Well, we're not due to rendezvous with Columbia for another six months or so, so until we do, it looks like you're stuck with us, Ensign. I'm sure we can be acceptable stand-ins until you get back home."

Sara grinned. "I appreciate you trying, sir."

"You can go. I need to talk to Commander Tucker about this privately." Jon pushed the communications panel and said "Captain Archer to Engineering. You there Trip?"

Trip's voice filled the room, and out of the corner of his eye Archer saw Sara wince. "Yes captain?"

"Come up here for a few minutes. I need to talk to you about something."

"Be right there Captain."

Archer shook his head and then turned from the comm panel to look at Sara. "At some point, you're going to have to talk to him about this," he said gently. "Not now, but at some point. When you do it is up to you." He nodded towards the door, and Sara nodded back, got up, and walked out of the room. On her way out, she passed Trip going in and hurried down the hallway after giving him a frightened look.

Trip stared after her and walked into the room, where he failed to notice Archer's expression. "What was that about?" he asked as the door closed behind him.

"Ensign Rhodes just told me a very interesting story," Archer said, sounding annoyed. "Really Trip, again? That's two unplanned pregnancies for you. Two."

"Hey, in my defense, that first one wasn't my fault," Trip said. "How was I supposed to know sticking my hands in that water would get me pregnant?"

"That aside, you should have known better this time. Getting anyone pregnant on active duty is bad, and you know that. Why the hell weren't you more careful?"

"Did Sara get yelled at like this? Because I'm sure I wasn't the only one there…"

"Ensign Rhodes came to me on her own and told me, and she looked like she felt guilty as hell. Oddly enough, her main concern seemed to be making sure you didn't lose your job over this."

Trip sighed, knowing he was completely defeated. "It just happened. Neither of us was thinking straight after what happened on Selfloss XII, and it just happened. I know we should have been careful, but we weren't thinking about that."

"Well, whatever happens next is up to the two of you. I got the distinct impression that Ensign Rhodes doesn't really want to be anywhere near you right now."

"I'm lucky Hoshi does. She was mad as hell, mostly because I left them alone in Sickbay to fight, but we ended up having a long talk and I'm forgiven, apparently. Only took two weeks."

"Go back to Engineering," Jon said, shaking his head. "I really don't think there's anything else that needs to be said, except for the love of god, don't get Hoshi pregnant too, and don't try and force Ensign Rhodes into talking to you."

Trip grinned and walked out of the room, but he didn't go back to Engineering. Instead, he wandered to Sickbay in search of Sara and in direct violation of what Archer had just told him. When he entered the room, he was slightly disappointed to see that Sara wasn't there, but Phlox helpfully informed him she was in her quarters and to tread carefully because the hormonal changes associated with pregnancy were starting to take hold. Trip assumed that what Phlox really meant was "Be careful, she's upset and might throw something at your head if you bother her."

Trip stood outside Sara's door for about ten minutes after he reached it, debating whether or not he should knock. Just when he had decided to walk away, the door opened, and Sara stood there, looking like she'd just gotten the second shock of her life. "Oh, hi," she said nervously. "Wasn't expecting you to be here."

"Phlox said you were here. Just wanted to let you know that Hoshi apparently listened to you. I've been forgiven."

Sara nodded and looked somewhat happy. "Good," she said. "I didn't know if she actually listened when I said that she should forgive you first."

There was silence for a few moments, neither of them sure what else, if anything, they should say to each other, and then Sara finally said "Do you want to have this talk now or later? Because since you're here, I figure we should probably do this now before we both lose our nerve."

"Only if you're up for it," Trip said. "Captain said I shouldn't force you into it."

"Get in here," Sara said with a grin. "Before I lose my nerve." She moved back from the door and let Trip in, pointing to her desk chair. The doors closed and Sara sat on her bed. "So, this is awkward. Very, very awkward. Massively awkward."

"I think that's an understatement. Have you told your parents?"

Sara nodded. "I think they're torn between excitement that they're getting another grandchild and bewilderment at how I could be so damn dumb. My kids are ecstatic, though. Lizzie can't wait to be a big sister. I told them that they shouldn't jump for joy just yet, because we don't know if Mommy's going to be able to come home safely yet. It all depends on if John can get me there safely."

"Nice of him to offer to help."

Sara smiled. "He was born from a similar situation," she said. "I figured it was kind of weird telling him, but I knew he wouldn't judge me. He'll get me and the baby home to Earth safely."

Trip had been staring at the floor for most of the conversation, but when Sara mentioned taking the baby to Earth, he looked up. He nodded in the direction of Sara's stomach. "So, you want whatever's in there too?"

Sara chuckled. "I do," she said. "I'm glad we're on the same page about that."

"You didn't want your kids to get excited until you knew how I felt about the whole thing."

"Exactly. But now I can tell them to get as excited as they want."

"You thought I wouldn't want this."

Sara shrugged. "I wasn't sure. I thought there was a chance, but I wasn't sure. I didn't want to do anything without hearing how you felt about it first."

"I never had a choice when it came to Elizabeth. She was there, and then I didn't have a choice when she was taken away either. For a while, I didn't think I'd get to be a father again. But I wanted her, Sara. I wanted her more than anything once I had her," Trip said, choking up a little. "This baby? I have a choice. I want my son or daughter. I want to be involved. I want to keep them around as long as I can."

Sara got off the bed and walked over to her friend. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a bear hug. "Then you'll get your chance," she said. "I wasn't thinking of doing anything else anyways."

Trip looked up at her to make sure she was serious, then grinned. "So, we're agreed."

"We're agreed."

"Well kid," Trip said, putting a hand on Sara's still-flat stomach. "Looks like you're sticking around for a while. Now the waiting begins."

Time passed, and though Sara lived in fear that someone had told everyone that she was pregnant, there were no whispers or sideways glances. Life went on as usual. Phlox did regular check-ups to make sure the baby was healthy, and everything progressed normally.

Until the day that Sara put on her uniform and noticed a tell-tale bump. "Sonofabitch," she muttered. "Well, I guess this is it."

That was the day the whispers started. People who had been kind to Sara previously now glared at her with contempt. She heard rumors of all sorts about her going around the ship; some of them mild, some of them so disgusting that she had to resist the urge to vomit. She couldn't believe how quickly some of the crew had turned on her, and once word got out that Trip was the father, she began taking her meals back to her quarters to eat because the stares and whispers became damn near unbearable.

It was on one of those nights, five months into her pregnancy, when the door chime went off and Sara looked up to find Hoshi standing in the doorway with her dinner tray. She looked slightly awkward, like she was unsure if she belonged there.

"Can I come in?" she asked hesitantly. Sara nodded and Hoshi walked in and sat down on Sara's bed. Sara silently noted that Hoshi appeared to have a split lip.

"I have to say, I wasn't expecting to see you," Sara said, making sure the door was firmly closed before joining Hoshi.

"I wasn't expecting to show up here," Hoshi admitted. "But I kind of got kicked out of the mess hall."

Sara raised an eyebrow. "How did THAT happen?"

"Some people were talking in line at the mess," Hoshi said, looking at her hands. "They were calling you a whore. I may or may not have started punching people."

"…you started a fight in the mess because people were calling me a whore?" Sara's surprise was one hundred percent legitimate; she was sure that given how angry Hoshi had been initially that Hoshi wouldn't have given a rat's ass what people said about Sara.

Hoshi looked up at Sara and grinned. "What you said that day, when we fought? I've had a lot of time to think about it, and I realized that you were right. Someone who wasn't my friend wouldn't have done things the way you did. And when I heard them talking about you that way, it made me angry. So I knocked a couple of guys on their asses and told them never to talk about you that way again, because you hadn't planned on this happening, and Chef told me to get my tray and get the hell out."

"Wow," Sara said with a smile. "You kicked ass on my behalf. That's kind of awesome. I can count on one hand the number of times people have done that for me."

"So, bearing that in mind…wanna be friends again?"

Sara nodded emphatically. "Hell yeah," she said, leaning over the trays carefully and giving Hoshi a hug. "I've missed you, you know."

"I missed you too," Hoshi said. She looked down at Sara's stomach and grinned. "So, five months now? Am I going to have a stepdaughter or a stepson?"

Sara laughed again. "A stepdaughter," she said. "Found out a month ago. Told Trip to let you know, but I guess with the engine issues, it slipped his mind."

"Have you come up with a name for her yet?"

Sara put her hand on her stomach, and smiled as she felt her baby kick. "Rosa," she said quietly. "I'm going to call her Rosa."


	17. Chapter 17

17.

"Trade barge just docked."

Sara looked up from her tray. "Just now?" she asked.

"Just now," Hoshi said with a grin. "Shall we go see what the ambassador has sent you this time?"

Sara smiled and pushed herself up from the table, her seven months belly making it slightly difficult. "You are never going to let me live this down, are you?"

Hoshi shook her head. "Nope. Not ever. Besides, it's cute that he's in love with you."

Sara stuck her tongue out at Hoshi as they walked towards the docking bay. "Don't tease him. It's amazing that he does."

Sara was at a loss to explain just how it happened, but during the months that she and John Collins, the Nicaustran ambassador she had met on Selfloss XII, had been exchanging letters, the two had fallen in love. She couldn't pinpoint exactly when it happened, but she knew that shortly after she entered her third month of pregnancy, John had been signing his letters with "Love" rather than "Sincerely," and Sara had followed suit. It made sense that she'd fallen in love with him; he was funny, kind, intelligent, and good-looking on top of all of that. Most importantly, he was brave and was more than willing to do the right and fair thing, even if it meant he didn't secure that trade agreement or alliance.

Hoshi had figured it out immediately; it wasn't hard to guess, when Sara beamed every time she had a letter from John and was quick to jump when her PADD alerted her to a new message. Sara had begged Hoshi not to tell Trip, for the sole purpose of keeping his protective streak under wraps. Hoshi had agreed, but the secret had gotten out the prior month when Sara had left her PADD unattended with a letter from John that Hoshi had described as "schmoopy and romantic" open on it. Luckily, the engines picked that moment to start malfunctioning, and it was never mentioned again, but Sara had a feeling that there was another awkward talk on the horizon at some point.

One of the things that Hoshi found incredibly amusing was the packages. The Nicaustran government had decided to ally itself with Starfleet, and since their fleet of ships did, in fact, strongly resemble trade barges, they were able and willing to run supplies to the different Starfleet ships in the area. To avoid detection by the Romulans, they kept legitimate traders on board and occasionally hailed a Romulan ship, inquiring if they wanted to trade. "Buzz off" was the nice way of putting the typical response from the Romulans, but it lent legitimacy to their claims of being trade vessels. In amongst the supplies that were delivered to Enterprise was always one box marked especially for Sara in John's handwriting. They usually contained whatever food Sara had been craving at the moment and occasionally some baby clothes or stuffed animals, things much appreciated since Sara had no way of preparing for the baby as she had previously.

The docking bay was alive with excitement as crates were moved all over the place and out the door at a steady pace. Sara and Hoshi wandered over to a group of traders who were standing closest to the bay doors. Sara recognized one of them as Thomas, one of the King's Guardians, who frequently made the trip along Starfleet lines and was well-known amongst the Enterprise crew. He smiled when he saw them approaching.

"And how are my two favorite ladies today?" Thomas asked, leaning against a crate.

"Feeling a little tired, but other than that, good," Hoshi replied. She winked at Sara. "Some of us a little more tired than others."

"Aye, heard it's been a busy few weeks. Neither of you look any worse for the wear." He turned to Sara and grinned at her stomach. "And how's the wee one?"

"She's kicking up a storm," Sara said. "It's a pain in pretty much every body part I can think of, but at least I know she's still OK in there."

"Well, that's certainly good to know," said a voice from behind Sara. Sara turned around and nearly squealed with happiness; without her knowing it, John had snuck up behind her. She threw her arms around his neck and laughed.

"You sneaky bastard," she said happily, kissing his cheek. "I wasn't expecting you!"

"I thought I'd surprise you by making a special delivery in person," John said, pulling back to look at Sara. "You look healthy. That's good. How's Rosa?"

"She's fine. Told Thomas she's kicking up a storm."

"Good, good," John said with a nod. He smiled at Hoshi. "And how are things with you and the commander, Hoshi?"

"We're good," Hoshi said with a grin. "Better than ever."

"So," Sara said, grinning up at John. "I know you said you had a special delivery for me. What is it?"

"You have to promise you're not going to scream when you see it," John said.

Sara giggled. "I promise. What is it?"

"Something I've been wanting to give you for a while now," John said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, then handed it to Sara.

Sara opened the box and her jaw dropped. Inside was a chain, and on the chain was a beautiful ring, the gemstones throwing sparkling light all over the docking bay. "John, it's beautiful."

"Now, there's a bit of a catch to it," he said. "If you want to keep it, that is."

"And what's the catch?"

"You have to marry me. Will you?"

Sara was shocked into complete silence for the first time in her life. "You…you want ME to marry YOU?" she stammered, nearly dropping the box in shock.

John nodded. "I think it goes without saying that I love you, Sara. And recently, the thought of having to leave you on Earth and risk never seeing you again has started making me sick to my stomach. I don't want to lose you for any reason. Marry me, and not only will you get a husband who loves you, you'll get someone who can do more than anyone on Earth could to keep you and Rosa safe."

"And how would you manage that?" Sara asked, still in a state of disbelief. "You're an ambassador."

"Not for long," John said. "My cousin is retiring. He wants to name me his heir, and I'm more than happy to take the throne. The people love me, and the Monarch Council and I have worked together on many projects for the kingdom before, so I know we can work well together. I could make you my queen, and you'd have the protection of the entire Nicaustran fleet at your disposal. We could bring your family safely to Nicaustra VII for the wedding. We could have your children there. Your parents and your friends could safely visit anytime they wanted, even in the middle of a war."

Sara's eyes went wide at the mention of the word "queen." "You really mean it, don't you?" she asked. "You really want to marry me."

"More than I want to become king. I joined that rescue mission to save you all those months ago, knowing that there was a chance I wouldn't make it off the planet alive, because I loved you even then. From the moment I first spoke to you, I loved you. I knew it wasn't the same for you, but I know you love me too, and all I want is a chance to make you happy again. Will you give me that chance, Sara?"

Sara looked at the necklace, then looked up at John. Never before had she felt so much like she was making the right decision. "Yes," she whispered, putting the chain and ring around her neck. "I will."

John let out a shout of joy and hugged Sara tightly, kissing her all over her face as Hoshi squealed and clapped her hands. "You won't regret this, Sara," he said, a bright smile on his face. "I promise you, we'll be the happiest people in the galaxy. Just wait and see." The celebrations were temporarily interrupted by the arrival of Captain Archer; it hadn't taken long for news of the ambassador's presence on the ship to reach him. He was closely followed by Trip, who had come down to inspect the engine parts that had arrived.

"Ambassador Collins, this is a pleasant surprise," Jon said, shaking John's hand. "Welcome aboard."

"Thank you Captain," John replied happily. "It's a pleasure to be here, especially now."

"Oh, and why's that?"

John looked at Sara, who raised an eyebrow and nodded in Archer's direction as if to say "You tell him." "Well sir," he said with a grin. "I just asked Sara to marry me, and she just said yes." Behind Captain Archer, Trip's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

"Really?" Jon said, looking at the couple. Sara nodded happily and held up the ring on the chain. "Well, congratulations you two. Ambassador, can I talk to you for a few moments?"

Sara giggled. "You won't be calling him that for long, Captain."

"Oh really?"

"Really," Sara said. "I'm marrying the future king of Nicaustra VII!"

The expression on Trip's face could only be described as that of an extremely grumpy cat who had just been woken from its nap. "Congratulations," he managed, trying to sound happy. "Better get to those engine parts before Ensign Connors breaks one of them…" He wandered off quickly in the direction of Ensign Connors, who was balancing precariously on top of a stack of crates, trying to reach a small one at the top of the stack, leaving Hoshi and Sara to start excitedly planning the wedding.

Meanwhile, Jon and Ambassador Collins were standing a few feet away, talking quietly.

"I'll make sure that the Nicaustran fleet continues its runs to the rest of the Starfleet armada," John was saying. "The Monarch Council has already been in touch with Admiral Gardner, and an agreement is in place. It's the last thing my cousin will sign as king, and I'm more than happy to sign the official alliance papers when I take over."

"That's good to know, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about," Archer said.

"Ah," John said, getting the idea almost instantly. "Sara."

"She's in a pretty unique situation right now. She's going to be having a baby in two months, and she's scared out of her mind."

"I know."

"And I'm assuming that you also know that there are a lot of people on this ship who care a great deal about her and don't want to see her taken advantage of at all?"

John laughed. "Is this your way of saying I should have asked you and Commander Tucker for Sara's hand in marriage first?" he joked.

Archer couldn't help but grin. "Nothing so extreme," he replied. "But clearly we understand each other."

"I know this seems a bit sudden and rushed," John said quietly. "But I've loved Sara since the moment we first spoke on Selfloss XII, and I've been hoping for months now that she'd come to see me the same way. A few months ago, it finally happened. Being separated from her is like torture, and I can't bear the thought of her being hundreds of thousands of miles away from me forever."

Jon nodded, understanding completely, his thoughts drifting immediately to Erika. "You'd do anything you could to keep her close and safe."

John grinned mischievously. "Then my first impression of you and Captain Hernandez was correct, I see." He held his hands up in the universal "pause" gesture. "Don't worry, I won't say a thing. But I promise you, I love Sara, and I'll do anything to make her happy. I just can't be separated from her any longer than I already have been."

Archer smiled at the ambassador and soon-to-be king. "Then in that case," he said, patting the man on the shoulder. "Welcome to the family, Your Highness."


	18. Chapter 18

18.

"We're not having this discussion out here," Sara said, waddling into her room, a hand on her back.

"Fine, we'll have it in here then," Trip said, following her inside and closing the door.

Sara groaned. "Can't you just leave me alone Trip? I'm due any day now and your daughter is trying to kick her way out of my uterus from the wrong direction."

"No, we need to talk about this now."

Sara sat down on her bed and put her feet up. Her back was killing her. "Fine, we'll talk about it now. I'm getting married when we get to Nicaustra VII. You can't stop me. There, we talked about it."

"You can't marry him, Sara. You two don't even know each other that well!"

"We've been writing each other for over 6 months now, and we know everything about each other except whether or not living together is a good idea," Sara pointed out. "Your argument is invalid. Next one."

"What if he's only using you to get heirs because he knows you can pop out kids?"

Sara glared at Trip. "You did NOT just say that."

"Well, what if it's true?"

"You're being an idiot, Trip."

"He knows you can give him sons AND daughters. What if I'm right?"

"For the love of god, Trip, will you stop being such an ass?"

"Will you stop avoiding answering me?"

"I'm not answering stupid-ass questions like that."

"Marrying someone you've only seen face to face probably three times in your life is a lot more stupid than my question," Trip muttered.

Sara's eyes blazed with anger and she rose to her feet as fast as she could. "What the hell did you just say to me?"

"You heard me," Trip said angrily. "Don't act like you didn't."

"How DARE you call me stupid? How FUCKING DARE YOU. I'm ensuring OUR DAUGHTER'S SAFETY by doing this."

"How can you be sure?"

"Dear fucking gods, Trip, CAN YOU PLEASE HAVE SOME FAITH FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE? If the Nicaustrans were going to betray us, they would have done it by now. They've got our technology, they know the way to Earth, there's really nothing stopping them from attacking us, BUT THEY HAVEN'T."

"You can't leave!"

"And who's going to stop me?" Sara taunted. "I'm an adult. I can make my own decisions, and I'm choosing to marry the man I love and keep our daughter safe."

"I can find a way to stop you."

"Oh really?" Sara laughed. "Try it. Just try it. I swear you'll regret it if you do."

"Like you'd really be able to do anything to me."

"You underestimate the power of a pissed-off person, and you also underestimate my restraint. I am this close to throwing something at your head right now for being such a jerk."

"Well excuse me for wanting to stop you from taking Rosa away from me!"

Sara paused. "THAT'S what this is about?" she said in disbelief. "You think I'm doing this to keep Rosa away from you once she's born? I can't believe you."

"That's your plan, isn't it? Marry Ambassador Collins, spend the rest of your life as a queen on some planet far away from Earth, and make sure Rosa has no idea who I am because you're ashamed of how you got her."

Sara's eyes filled with tears, and she picked up a pillow and hurled it angrily at Trip. He ducked the pillow and looked at Sara in shock. He hadn't expected her to actually throw something at him. "You bastard," she sputtered, starting to cry. "You think I wouldn't let you see her after everything you've told me? Of COURSE you can see her whenever you want. Tell us you're coming and we'll make sure you have one of the best rooms we have. Bring Hoshi. Bring your parents. Hell, bring Phillip if he wants to come see his niece. You can spend leave with us if you want. Call whenever you want, write whenever you want, any time you want with her is yours. You're her FATHER, for god's sake. I can't believe that after all these years you've known me, you actually think I'm capable of being so fucking heartless." She opened her mouth to say something else, but nothing came out except an unexpected moan of pain.

"Sara, what's wrong?" Trip asked, suddenly frightened. Sara doubled over in pain and knelt on the floor of her quarters.

"AUGH!" Sara screamed in response, one hand on the bed and the other on her belly. "SonofaBITCH."

"What's happening?"

"Contraction, I think," Sara choked out. Trip turned pale and smacked the comm panel on the wall into operation. "Commander Tucker to Sickbay. Phlox, are you there?"

"I'm here Trip."

"I think Sara's having the baby. Or she needs an exorcism. I've never heard screaming like that from a human before." He made an "OOF!" noise as a second pillow was thrown and made contact with his face.

"Get her here as fast as you can," Phlox said calmly. "We'll get you your daughter in no time."

Trip closed the channel and rushed over to Sara. "OK, if I help you up, do you think you can move?"

Sara nodded. Trip knelt down and put an arm around Sara's waist, and managed to maneuver her to her feet. "There we go. Let's get you to Sickbay."

"Hoshi wanted to be there too," Sara said, sounding a little tired now that the contraction had passed. "I promised."

Trip walked Sara over to the door and hit the comm panel one more time. "Commander Tucker to the bridge. Anybody read me?"

"What do you need Trip?" Malcolm's voice responded.

"Send Hoshi to Sickbay pronto," Trip said. "Little someone is on their way and the queen requires Hoshi's presence. OW! What the hell, Sara?"

"That wasn't funny."

"You didn't have to kick me!"

"Um, Commander?" Captain Archer's voice filled the room. "The comm line is still active…"

Trip turned a deep shade of burgundy while Sara laughed hysterically. "Sorry about that Captain. Tucker out." He made sure the comm line was closed, and then helped Sara down to Sickbay. When they arrived, Phlox already had a bed prepared for Sara and made sure she was comfortable and everything was progressing properly.

"Phlox?"

"Yes Sara?"

"Epidural?"

Phlox chuckled. "Soon," he promised. "It's a little too early for that right now. Your water hasn't even broken yet."

Three hours and an extremely tense moment on the bridge with a Romulan vessel later, Hoshi showed up in Sickbay to find a disgusted Trip, an amused Phlox, and an obviously drugged-out Sara with Fuzzy perched on her shoulder. She bit back a laugh at the expression on her boyfriend's face. "How are things so far?" she asked, trying very hard not to laugh.

"Everything is good," Sara said, sounding more than a little high. "Everything is beautiful and nothing hurts." Fuzzy made an annoyed noise and bit Sara on the shoulder. "…except that…that hurt…"

"Why isn't Fuzzy in her cage?" Hoshi asked Phlox.

"I don't know how she's managed it, but it seems that she's figured out how to unhook the latch on her own," Phlox said with a laugh. "She hopped out of the cage and onto Sara's shoulder, and has been there for the last two hours."

"And what happened to you?" Hoshi asked Trip, giggling a little.

"Water broke," he muttered. "I don't want to talk about it."

Sara cackled with glee. "He got SO GROSSED OUT. It was HILARIOUS. He wasn't even standing down there. He was trying to get Fuzzy off my shoulder, but he looked like he was gonna puke!"

Hoshi laughed and held out a hand to Fuzzy, who hopped onto her hand without question and nipped at her fingers. "She's probably wondering why Sara isn't feeding her," Hoshi said. "Let me get her fed, and we'll see if she goes back into her cage then." Sure enough, after a few snow beetles, Fuzzy happily went back into her cage and clung to the bars, watching the humans intently.

"So, you ready?" Hoshi asked Sara.

"I don't think I have a choice," Sara said thoughtfully. She looked up at Trip and cackled again. "This is the second time you've made me go into labor, Tucker. You're not allowed anywhere near me if I have any more kids."

Hoshi blinked and looked at Trip. "Care to explain this? I know about the first time, but what in god's name did you do to her?"

Trip looked sheepish. "Uh, I may or may not have underestimated Sara's willingness to let me see Rosa after she's born…" He winced in pain as Hoshi smacked the back of his head. "Hey, you can't do that! I outrank you!"

"If we had couches in our quarters, you would so be sleeping on one tonight," Hoshi said, shaking her head in disbelief. "As it is, expect my door to be locked tonight. No standard blues for you, sir."

Trip opened his mouth to respond when Sara let out an ungodly howl. "What the hell?"

Phlox quickly examined Sara. "I do believe it's time to push," he said. "Hoshi, could you please get on one side of Sara? Trip, you take the other side. She's going to need hands to hold and back support."

Sara grabbed Trip and Hoshi's hands in a near-iron grip. "I'm ready," she said, sounding determined.

"All right then, push!"

Sara pushed as hard as she could. Over and over, just as it had been with her last three children, until she couldn't stand it anymore. "TRIP I AM GOING TO KILL YOU," she shouted after a particularly hard push, leaning exhaustedly on Hoshi's shoulder.

"Don't worry sweetie," Hoshi said comfortingly. "Concentrate on pushing, and we can get Malcolm to arrange an accident for him later." Trip glared at Hoshi, who grinned and tried to look innocent, but failed miserably.

"One more, Sara, and I promise, this is the absolute last one," Phlox said. "Push!"

Sara pushed and squeezed her friend's hands, and then she felt something inside her give and heard the sweet sound of a baby crying. She leaned back against the bed, breathing heavily, completely exhausted. "She's here," she said, sounding a little woozy.

"She's here," Phlox confirmed, holding the screaming baby up for the three of them to see. "And her lungs are apparently in perfect condition."

Sara laughed. "Just like her momma," she said, starting to doze off as Phlox motioned for Trip to come cut the umbilical cord. Sara heard a faint snipping sound, and then a series of loud screeches caused her to become instantly alert. "That is not my baby," she said seriously.

"That wasn't Rosa," Hoshi said, unable to control her laughter any longer and laughing hysterically. "That was Fuzzy. I don't think she knows what the purpose of cutting the umbilical cord is. She probably thought Trip was hurting Rosa."

"He wouldn't do that. That's his baby. He loves her."

"He does," Hoshi confirmed. She leaned down and affectionately poked Sara's nose. "And for the record, so do I."

Sara grinned and stuck her tongue out at Hoshi. "Good. Because the two of you are to visit whenever you damn well please. Any time Trip wants to see Rosa, he can. Bring family if you want. Write, call, whatever. I don't care. Just let us know you're coming, OK? That way I can make sure you guys get the awesome guest room." With a woozy grin, Sara drifted off to sleep.

A few hours later, when all the excitement surrounding the birth was finished, Trip returned to Sickbay alone. He looked over at Sara's bed; she was still asleep, just as he and Hoshi had left her. He couldn't help but grin. Sara was glowing, even in her sleep.

"She doing any better?" Trip asked. There had been a slight scare with Sara's vitals when the placenta was being delivered, and she'd lost more blood than she should have, but Phlox was able to get her stabilized nearly instantly, thanks to the files from her previous deliveries.

Phlox nodded. "She's just fine," he said. "I wouldn't wake her up, though, if I were you. She needs her rest. You didn't carry your pregnancy to term, so you're not aware of how taxing an experience giving birth can be."

Trip winced. "Did you have to bring THAT up?" he asked.

Phlox grinned and didn't answer. "In any case, there IS a young lady who is wide awake and would love to see you, I should think." He nodded toward a small bed, where a little sign on the front carried the name "Rosa Bethan Tucker" in Phlox's neat printing. "She's 3.49 kilograms and 49.5 centimeters long. And extremely healthy, I might add. Sara took excellent care of her while she was pregnant." He smiled as Trip walked over to the little bed and stared down at Rosa. "I'll leave you two alone to get acquainted," he said quietly, walking out the door with a PADD.

Though it had been years since he had lost Elizabeth, the memory of how to pick up a baby and hold her had stayed with Trip, and he easily lifted his daughter out of her bed and into his arms. She was, as Phlox had said, wide awake, and stared at him with inquisitive brown eyes. His eyes, he realized as he looked back at her, and his nose. The little ears and the dusting of red hair on top of her head were clearly the work of her mother's genes, but she had his eyes.

"Hello there," he said quietly to her, trying to keep from waking Sara up. "I'm your daddy, and I'm pretty sure you just made history, little girl. Not sure if there's been a human baby born on a Starfleet ship before you."

Rosa stared at Trip and grabbed at the collar of his jumpsuit. "Oh no, you can't have that," he said with a smile. "Not until you're old enough for flight school, if that's what you want to do. Or you might end up being a queen. Who knows?" Rosa squirmed and put her hand in her mouth.

Trip chuckled. "You're adorable, you know." He looked a little wistful. "Your big sister Elizabeth was adorable too. Now, you aren't gonna get to know her, because she's gone now, but you got another big sister named Elizabeth who's gonna do just as good a job of teaching you things as she would have. It's a long story. Me or your momma will tell you when you get older."

Behind the father and daughter, Sara stirred on her bed. She opened her eyes, saw Trip holding Rosa and talking quietly to her, and smiled. She closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep so she could hear the rest of what was going on without interrupting.

"Your momma and I are in kind of a unique situation," Trip continued. "We aren't married, and your momma is marrying someone else who is gonna take real good care of the two of you. But you and me, we're gonna get along just fine. Your momma's seeing to that. She's an amazing person, your mother. I've known her since she was almost your size, and I've never known her to be anything other than one of the best examples of what a good person should be. I think I hurt her feelings earlier, but sometimes I don't think before I say things, and I never meant any of it."

Fuzzy made some chirping noises in her cage. "Fuzzy, can it!" Trip whispered. "Sara's trying to sleep!" Fuzzy made an indignant noise and hopped to the back of her cage.

"That's Fuzzy. She's not getting anywhere near you until you're old enough to take care of animals without getting hurt. Anyways, you're only gonna be on Enterprise for a little while, so we're gonna have to make the most of it. I'm gonna introduce you to Hoshi, who you're gonna love, and the captain. Think about it; only a few hours old and you're already meeting the higher-ups."

Rosa reached out with her free hand and opened and closed her fingers a few times. Trip paused, then held out a finger, and smiled as Rosa grabbed it and waved it around.

"Kid, I think you and I are gonna get along just fine…"


	19. Chapter 19

19.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Sara, Trip, and Hoshi looked up from playing with Rosa to see John standing in the door of Trip's quarters. Sara smiled, and rushed to hug her fiancé.

"Just playing with the baby," she said, leading John over to where Hoshi sat with Rosa in her arms. "Have a look."

John peered down at Rosa, who looked up at him and stuck her hand in her mouth. He chuckled. "She's a beautiful little one. Has her father's eyes, and I see Sara's worries that she would end up with the Callahan nose were unfounded. She's a good mix of the two of you."

Trip grinned proudly. "Thanks," he said. "She's got Sara's hair, though."

Sara winced. "I was hoping she'd come out dark-haired and go blonde later like Trip, but she came out redheaded. At least it's my shade and not bright red like mine was when I was born. The nurses joked that my head was on fire and my grandmother cursed them out in Welsh. Scared the bejeebus out of them."

"So, what brings you here, Your Majesty?" Hoshi asked, grinning innocently as she handed Rosa to Trip. Rosa made a gurgling noise and buried her face in Trip's shoulder.

"I have a surprise for my wife-to-be," he said. "And I felt that it was best delivered in person."

Sara raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" she asked, a little curious. "The last time you had a surprise for me, I ended up engaged." The ring, once displayed on a chain around her neck, was now sparkling on the fourth finger of her left hand, where it had been ever since her fingers went back to their normal size after Rosa's birth.

"You'll love this one even more," John said. He winked at Hoshi and Trip, then turned Sara towards the door and put his hands over her eyes.

"Wait a minute, what?" Sara said, trying to move John's hands. She could hear Hoshi and Trip laughing, and Rosa's baby noises, but she couldn't see a thing. "Don't tell me you two are in on this with him!"

"Fine, I won't tell you," Hoshi said, her laughter evident in her voice. "But we may or may not have helped."

"Rosa's in on it too, by the way," Trip said mischievously as John led Sara out the door and down the hallway.

"Our daughter is not even two months old and you're already corrupting her," Sara said, shaking her head in mock disbelief. "Somebody is sitting in the corner during the wedding tomorrow."

They led her into the docking bay, and it was a relief when John moved his hands from Sara's eyes and said "All right, you can look."

Sara looked around the crowded docking bay, trying to see what her surprise could possibly be, and then a familiar voice hit her ears.

"MOMMY! MOMMY WE'RE OVER HERE!"

Sara turned immediately in the direction of the voice and saw her daughter Elizabeth running towards her at her full four year old speed, her hair in pigtails that were bouncing as she ran. Sara dropped to her knees and held her arms wide open for her daughter to run into, and as her arms closed around her daughter, she started to cry.

"Oh my god," Sara said, clinging to her daughter. "Elizabeth. Baby, what are you doing here?" She felt a thud on either side of her as her sons crowded in for hugs too, and she somehow managed to wrap all three of her older children in a massive group hug. "And my boys. How? When?"

"John smuggled us on one of the ships," Charlie said happily, hugging his mother tightly. "He said it would be like playing spies. It was kind of awesome."

"He got us himself from Nana and Pappy's house," Elizabeth said. "Nana and Pappy wanted us to tell you they like John a lot and can't wait to come visit."

"Are your grandparents here?" Sara asked.

"Nana and Pappy are going to visiting Uncle Jamie and Aunt Carrie's new baby," Jimmy said. "And Grandma and Grandpa have the flu. That's why we were with Nana and Pappy. But we're here!"

"I know! Let me take a look at you all." Sara pulled back from her children and took a look at them. Charlie and Jimmy were 10 years old now, and Elizabeth was 4. Her boys had grown at least six inches since the last time she had seen them, and Elizabeth was talking in full sentences and had apparently stopped hiding behind her siblings when she met new people. Her hair was still as red as her mother's, and the twins' hair had darkened to the same brown as their father's. "You all look so different!"

"It's been a year and a half almost, Mom," Charlie said. "Of course we look different!"

"Don't sass Mommy!" Elizabeth said seriously to her older brother. "She can still ground you, you know."

Sara laughed. "Nobody's getting grounded today," she said. "There IS someone I want you to meet, though." She turned to Trip, who handed Rosa to her, then slowly knelt down again. "This is your baby sister, Rosa."

"You named her after mawr-nain Rosa!" Elizabeth said happily. "She would be happy."

"I did. And MY mawr-nain Bethan as well. Here, take a look at her," Sara said. The children peered down at the baby, who looked up at them and smiled a baby smile.

"Hey, she's smiling!" Charlie said. "She likes us!"

"She better like us," Jimmy said. "She's kind of stuck with us forever."

"She's pretty," Elizabeth said, giving Rosa a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Did I look like that when I was a baby, Mommy?"

"You all did," Sara said with a grin. "Now come on, let's get you three somewhere a little more quiet so you can get to know her better."

Later on, while her older children were napping after their long journey in her quarters, Sara picked up Rosa and walked down the corridors to Trip's room. She rang to be let in, and Trip opened his door quickly.

"I'm not interrupting you and Hoshi, am I?"

Trip shook his head. "We're meeting up later on." He grinned at Rosa, who picked her head up and smiled when she saw him. "And how's my little girl?"

"She's good," Sara said, handing the baby to Trip. Rosa gurgled happily and put her head down on Trip's shoulder, cuddling as best she could. "Can we talk for a minute? There's something I want to ask you."

"Sure."

Sara walked into Trip's quarters and immediately started pacing. "I'm not really sure how to say this," she began. "But this is kind of important, so I guess I better just say it."

"Well, spit it out!" Trip said. Rosa hiccupped and drooled on Trip's shoulder, making Sara burst out laughing. "Sweetie, I was talking to your momma, not you!"

"She did that to Jimmy and Charlie a few times too. They got disgusted, and Elizabeth just laughed at them."

"So, what did you want to ask me?"

"I wanted to know if you'd give me away at the wedding tomorrow."

Trip looked shocked. "You want me to do it?"

"My father's back on Earth with the flu. My former father in law is visiting my former brother in law and his wife and their new baby. Phlox declined."

"Wait, Phlox said no?"

Sara looked a little sheepish. "He told me that I should ask you. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Of all the people here, you've known me the longest and I don't want to ask anyone else. If you say no, I'll walk down the aisle alone. But I wanted to at least extend the courtesy of asking you."

"Not all that sure I want to do it, to be honest."

"You have to let me go, Trip," Sara said quietly. "I'd rather it be this way than some other way. Please, do this one last thing for me, and I'll never ask you for anything again."

Trip knew she was right; he DID have to let her go. She was his friend, and the mother of his daughter, but he had to let her go at some point. He sighed and looked at Rosa. "What do you think, kid? Should I give your momma away tomorrow?"

"You're asking the baby?" Sara chuckled. "Have you been drinking?"

"I feel like she should be involved with this decision too," Trip said. "So, yes or no?" Rosa smiled and made a baby noise. "OK, I'm taking that as a yes."

"So we're agreed."

"We're agreed. Who's going to have Rosa during the ceremony?"

"Travis said he'd hold her until you get me down the aisle, then he'll give her to you, since Hoshi, Melody, and Hess from Engineering are going to be my bridesmaids and can't do it, and Lizzie's going to be my flower girl and SHE can't do it."

"And the boys are the ring bearers," Trip said, remembering the discussion Sara and Hoshi had been having earlier while the boys and Elizabeth played with Fuzzy, who had thoroughly enjoyed the massive amount of attention, in Sickbay. Rosa started to whimper and Trip handed her back. "I think she's hungry. You better get her fed and get some rest. Big day tomorrow."

"Better get that dress uniform out," Sara said with a grin as she took Rosa and walked to the door. "I expect you to be just as dressed up as I am." She opened the door and walked out, leaving Trip sitting alone in his room, a wistful expression on his face.

The next day, as Sara had requested, Trip was waiting in a hallway of Heavencreek Palace, the home of the Nicaustran monarchy, wearing his dress uniform. He'd smiled as Hoshi, Melody, and Sarah Hess from Engineering had walked past in their bridesmaid gowns, and ruffled the twins' hair as they walked past in tuxedos, looking extremely uncomfortable at being dressed up. Little Elizabeth had come next, carrying a basket of rose petals and wearing a circlet of roses on top of her long hair, which had been curled for the occasion, and he waved at her then kissed Rosa as Travis walked into the grand hall with her.

After what seemed like an eternity, the sound of heels clicking on the polished floors echoed across the hall. Trip looked up, and there was Sara at the end of the hallway, walking towards him. His breath caught in his throat; she looked beautiful. The court dressers had given her a long white gown that just brushed the ground and was covered in lace, the skirt giving the appearance of waves on an ocean. Her hair was down and brushing her shoulders in curls, a lace veil covered her head and hung down past her waist, and around her neck was the chain holding her great-grandmother's wedding ring that Sara had worn to her wedding to Andrew all those years ago.

"How do I look?" Sara asked nervously.

"Beautiful. He's going to love you even more when he sees you." The music for Sara's entrance started playing, and Trip immediately cracked up, recognizing a song that had been a favorite of Sara's maternal grandparents and was extremely popular in the early 1970s. "Pink Floyd? Really Sara? Really?"

Sara grinned. "They asked me what music I wanted for my entrance. I had it on sound chip, so I handed it off to them. It's a violin version of Brain Damage and Eclipse, so it's appropriate for a wedding. Well, more appropriate for a wedding than it usually is…"

Trip held out his arm, and Sara took it. "Well, this is it, kid. Let's get you married."

The doors to the great hall opened, and Trip and Sara walked down the aisle. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that at least half of the other assembled Starfleet officers recognized the instrumental as well and were making attempts at hiding their laughter, with varying degrees of success. In the front pew, he could see Captain Archer's shoulders shaking, and grinned as he saw Captain Hernandez, seated next to him, subtly pinch his arm to make him behave. He looked at Sara, who was grinning with a mischievous glint in her eyes; she'd known all along that this would happen.

At the end of the aisle, John was waiting with his cousin, the former king, and his groomsmen, and Sara's bridesmaids. John came down the small set of steps before the altar that had been set up to meet them. Sara smiled at John, then turned to Trip and hugged him. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you."

Trip smiled and gave Sara's hand to John's. "She's all yours now, Your Majesty," he said, sounding a little choked up. "You be good to her, or Starfleet will find you." The laughter from those assembled echoed off the walls of the great hall.

"I will, Commander. Both of them," John said. Trip nodded, then turned and walked back down the aisle to Travis and took Rosa from him carefully.

The ceremony didn't take much time; neither party was all that religious, and the officiator made sure that the ceremony was as brief and lighthearted as possible, including a moment where the entire Starfleet side of the hall stared at Trip when the "Speak now or forever hold your piece" moment arrived, causing him to yell "What?" loudly and crack up everyone in the hall.

The vows finished, the officiator declared John and Sara man and wife, and he smiled at John. "Your Majesty," he said, looking at the happy couple. "You may kiss your bride."

"I've been waiting months for this," John said loudly, before pulling Sara into his arms and kissing her deeply.

As the applause echoed off the hall and the music played, Sara couldn't help but feel that she was the luckiest woman alive. And if the coronation the next day went off without a hitch, she'd feel even luckier. For now, it was time to party.


	20. Chapter 20

20.

"Everyone is drunk. Everyone in this room but my children, the two of us, and the captains are drunk."

John laughed. "It's a wedding reception," he said, patting his new wife's hand. "It's par for the course."

Sara smiled. "I know, but I'm just not used to seeing ANY Starfleet officers drunk, much less two ships worth!"

Sara was right. Their wedding reception had basically been turned into shore leave the minute the alcohol started flowing after dinner. She had already had to stop Travis and Malcolm from poking each other's eyes out with forks twice, and from across the room she could see that they were now sword fighting with the sticks used to dip marshmallows and fruit in the massive chocolate fountain that had been set up.

"Aren't they adorable?" Hoshi said with a drunken grin.

"They are, but I already have four kids," Sara said with a laugh. "I'm not adopting two more tonight."

"Fine then, we'll take them!" Hoshi announced.

Trip, drunk in his own right, turned a pale shade of white. "Hoshi, we've only been together 9 months! What the hell?"

"But they're so adorable!" Hoshi whined. "Can we keep them Trip? Please please please can we keep them?"

Trip blinked. "Hoshi, you are DRUNK."

Hoshi shrugged. "So are you. What's your point?"

Sara laughed and shook her head. "BOTH of you are drunk, and NEITHER of you are adopting them," she said. "Archer would kill you both."

"Where is Jon anyway?" Trip asked, looking around for his friend.

It was little Elizabeth, seated on a chair next to Sara and holding Rosa carefully, who answered. "I think he's in the cupboard with Captain Erika," she said seriously. "You should check there!"

Sara choked back an unholy-sounding laugh. "And what makes you think that, honey?"

"I saw them go in there together," Elizabeth said. "I think they've been in there a while now. Since right after dinner."

Sara looked at her daughters, and then looked at Trip and Hoshi. "I won't say anything if you won't," she said, grinning at them.

"We're good," Trip said. "What happens at the reception stays at the reception."

John laughed and looked at Sara. "You're going to miss this when they're gone."

Sara snorted. "The hell I am. I'll be happy to be able to relax and sleep in until whenever I want."

"Mommy, you said a bad word in front of the baby," Elizabeth said.

Sara turned a faint shade of pink. "I'm sorry, sweeties," she said, kissing her little girls. "Mommy will try not to do it again."

"And if she does," John said mischievously. "Then a couple little girls get some money in a jar. Does that sound fair?"

Elizabeth thought for a moment, and then smiled at her new stepfather. "I think so! How much though?"

"Well, let's see here," John said, thinking a little. "Since you're older, I think you should get a little more. How about fifty cents for you, and a quarter for Rosa?"

Elizabeth considered John's offer. "I think we should both get fifty cents," she said. "Just to make it fair to Rosa. It's not her fault she's a baby."

Trip laughed. "Sounds just like her mother, always wanting things to be fair. Good job, Lizzie. Good job!"

"I think that's perfect, Lizzie," Sara said, pleased that her daughter had already picked up her sense of fairness at such a young age. "And if John swears in front of you, same penalty. Fifty cents for each of you."

"I'm more than happy to go along with it," John said. "It's only right that I contribute as well."

Sara looked out across the room again to see if anything had changed. Travis and Malcolm were still sword fighting, Hess from Engineering was dancing with Phlox, her sons were talking eagerly with Shran, an Andorian commander who was good friends with Captain Archer, and Melody and Bobby were apparently having a drinking contest at the bar. From what Sara could see, it appeared that Melody was winning. And out of the corner of her eye, she could also see Captains Archer and Hernandez sneaking back into the reception hall.

"Since the captains have returned, would you entrust them with Elizabeth and Rosa for a moment so I can dance with you?" John asked. "And then you can retrieve them for that dance you wanted with the children?"

Sara smiled. "Of course," she said. She stood up and looked down at Elizabeth. "Sweetie, Mommy's going to leave you and Rosa with Captain Archer and Captain Erika for just a little bit while she dances with John, and then she's going to come right back and get you so we can all dance together, all right?"

Elizabeth nodded. "All right," she said. "But you're going to have to carry Rosa, because I don't think I can carry her all the way over there." Sara gently took Rosa from Elizabeth and held her with one arm, then took Elizabeth's hand in her free one and walked over to Jon and Erika.

"Your Highness," Jon said with a grin. Erika rolled her eyes and shook her head; Sara wasn't going to be queen legally until the next day, but everyone had decided to start teasing her about it as soon as possible. "What can I do for you?"

Sara laughed. "Well, Captain, I was hoping that you could watch these two young ladies while I have a dance with their stepfather, if that's not too much trouble."

Jon's eyes lit up. "I'd be honored," he said, holding his arms out for Rosa. Sara put Rosa carefully into his arms, admonishing him gently to be careful of her head before joining John on the dance floor. "There we go. I promise, I'll take good care of both of them while you're dancing." He motioned for Elizabeth to climb into the chair beside Erika, who looked distinctly awkward.

"You're holding her good, sir," Elizabeth noted happily. "You would make a good daddy I think."

"You think so?" Jon said happily, shooting Erika a look over Elizabeth's head.

"Yeah," Elizabeth said, swinging her legs over the edge of the chair.

"Well, that's good to know."

The four sat quietly and watched as John and Sara danced across the floor to an old Earth song that, according to Sara, was from one of the myriad number of films about Robin Hood to be released during the 20th century. "They look happy," Erika commented.

"Mommy says she loves John as much as she loved Daddy," Elizabeth said, playing with some of the lace on her dress. "And she loved Daddy lots. My brothers and grandmas and grandpas said so."

"That's good," Erika replied, still feeling a little awkward. She was never completely sure what to do around kids that weren't her nieces, and hoped that this would be the end of the discussion.

No such luck. "I like John too," Elizabeth said, oblivious to the fact that Erika was so uncomfortable. "He was very nice to Daddy's parents. I don't know what they said, but they really liked him. I think he's gonna be a good daddy too, since my daddy isn't here anymore." She paused and looked at Erika. "Do you have any babies?" she asked innocently.

Jon's eyes bugged out in silent laughter over Elizabeth's head as Erika's face changed three colors in seconds. "No, I don't have any babies," she answered.

"Oh," Elizabeth said. "That's OK. I was just wondering." She turned to Jon and asked. "Do YOU have any babies, Captain sir?"

Jon smiled. "No, I don't have any babies either," he said. A thought popped into his head; he knew Erika wouldn't be happy, but he figured it would make a good wedding present for Sara. "But you know what? I wouldn't mind watching you and your baby sister and your brothers for the night. You think your mother would be all right with that?" He could practically see the steam coming from Erika's ears.

Elizabeth looked to be in deep thought for a few moments, then said "I think she'd let you as long as you don't drop Rosa. Then she'd get mad and Uncle Trip would probably barf on your shoes."

Erika couldn't help but laugh at that one. "And why would he do that?" she asked, a little intrigued as to what the response would be.

"Because he's hammered," Elizabeth said simply. "He and Aunt Hoshi and everyone but you and Captain Archer and Mommy and John and my brothers are hammered, ma'am. That's what Mommy said, anyways."

"I'll be right back," Erika said, standing up quickly and walking away. From the hallway, Jon could hear the telltale sound of Erika's laughter and grinned. Maybe she wouldn't be so upset at having to babysit the kids after all.

"I think your mom is right," Jon said. "But don't worry. I won't drop Rosa. I helped your uncle Trip practice how to hold babies before she was born. I think I've got it."

Erika returned from the hallway just as Sara came over to collect Rosa and Elizabeth. "All right my girls, it's time to dance with Mommy." She looked at Erika and Jon and smiled. "I hope they weren't too much trouble."

"No trouble at all," Jon said. "In fact, if you'd like to get them off your hands for the night, I'd be happy to look after them for you. Elizabeth seems to be all right with the idea. I didn't ask Rosa, but since she didn't drool on my uniform, I'm guessing she likes me."

"Can he Mommy?" Elizabeth asked, hopping down from her chair. "Can he please watch us?"

"I don't see why not," Sara said. "But you have to behave yourselves, and don't make any trouble. I'd also suggest you bring your toys so you have things to play with."

"And I'll bring Wuzzy Bear too, so Rosa can cuddle him," Elizabeth said. "She'll love Wuzzy Bear!"

"Thank you so much, Captain," Sara said. "I was wondering what I'd do with them tonight…I was seriously considering sending them back to Columbia with Melody and Bobby, but they've been drinking so much that I don't think they could watch themselves, much less four children."

"With all due respect, Your Highness," Archer said with a grin. "You worry about having a good wedding night, and I'll worry about making sure your kids behave."

"Touché, sir," Sara said, remembering the conversation she'd had with Archer prior to Rosa's birth. "Touché."

As they walked away, Erika made sure no one was looking and pinched Jon's arm. "Ow! What was that for?"

"You know I'm not good with kids, Jon."

"Oh come on," Jon pleaded. "The girls are sweethearts, and I'm sure we can undo any damage Shran did to the boys with no trouble. They're only 10, any Andorian corruption is easily reversible at that age!"

"That's not it and you know it."

Jon looked out on the floor at Sara dancing with all four of her children and smiled. "Oh, believe me," he said. "I know it all too well."


	21. Chapter 21

21.

"Never thought I'd get to attend an actual coronation," Malcolm commented, looking around the grand hall. "This place is packed."

"I don't think any of us expected this," Trip said, looking pointedly down at the two month old baby resting contentedly in his arms. "But I'm glad Sara's happy."

"Are you really?"

Trip grinned at his friend. "Really. I mean it. I'm gonna miss her, and I'm gonna miss this little girl right here, but at least I know both of them are safe. Better than having to wait for the news that they reached Earth safely, or get the news that they got blown up by the Romulans."

The crews of Enterprise and Columbia had, once again, been afforded front-row seating, since they were close friends of the new queen. The new queen; none of them could quite believe it. One of their own, a queen. But it was happening, and the coronation had been arranged for the day after the wedding. John, as so many kings on Earth and on Nicaustra VII had done before him, wanted to be crowned king with his wife as his queen, and while Sara had been unhappy at the prospect of a second public ceremony coming so hard on the heels of the first, she had agreed that it was probably for the best, especially since Enterprise and Columbia had to leave that day to rejoin the war.

There was a flurry of trumpets, and the doors at the back of the grand hall opened. Those assembled in the hall stood for the procession, as they had been advised to do by the guards as they had entered. Various male officers and courtiers walked in a solemn procession, followed by the members of the Monarch Council, and then John himself entered, dressed richly in a suit of silk and velvet. The procession stopped at the head of the hall, where the twin thrones of Nicaustra VII had been moved from the throne room especially for the ceremony.

The gentleman who had officiated Sara and John's wedding the day before motioned for everyone to be seated. "We will begin with the crowning of our new king," he said. The man plucked a scroll from a table situated just behind the throne and began to read it aloud.

"Hundreds of years ago, our ancestors were brought to this planet by beings previously unknown to any man or woman, beings who were fast becoming extinct and did not wish to see their planet die alongside them. These beings instructed our ancestors on the proper care of the planet, and gave them the knowledge necessary to continue in peace once they had all departed. This included instructions for the choosing of the government. From all forms known to them and ourselves came the monarchy of Nicaustra VII, a monarchy chosen by the people, a monarchy of choice, a monarchy of great possibility.

The first of these monarchs was chosen from amongst the new citizenry through a vote, and the descendants of him and the original citizenry brought to Nicaustra VII continue the tradition through generations, down to us here present this very day."

Rosa began to whimper a little bit. "Shhhh," Trip whispered, pulling a bottle out of a bag hidden under his seat. "It's OK. Daddy's got you covered, little girl." He took the cover off the bottle and put it up to Rosa's lips, and she immediately latched on to the bottle and started sucking quietly, her eyes focused upwards on Trip's face. "There we go," Trip said with a smile. "Your momma thought this might happened. Good thing we were prepared…"

"One of these choices given is abdication," the officiator continued. "In the event that the monarch decides they cannot or will not continue in their duties any further, they may abdicate without loss of any titles they held when they came to the throne, and a new monarch will rise. This may be a chosen heir of the prior monarch, an immediate family member, an extended family member, a member of the Monarch Council, or a new monarch elected by the people.

John Alan Collins, His Majesty Alexander Woodville, former monarch of the Territories of Nicaustra VII, has named you his heir, and has abdicated the throne. I ask you now as I did before, is it your wish to become the new monarch of the Territories of Nicaustra VII?"

"It is," John answered firmly.

"Then ascend these stairs and take your rightful place."

John walked up the stairs and sat on the throne on the right-hand side of the room. The applause from the assembled Nicaustrans was nearly deafening, and Trip thanked any and all deities he could think of that Rosa's whimpers hadn't been on account of the noise.

The officiator picked up a sparkling gold crown and stood behind the throne. "I ask again, as I have before. Is it your wish, John Alan Collins, to become the new monarch of the Territories of Nicaustra VII?"

"It is," John answered again.

"Then let it be known by all assembled that John Alan Collins, the named heir of His Majesty Alexander Woodville of the Territories of Nicaustra VII, today becomes our new monarch." The officiator placed the crown on John's head. "Upon your head now rests the crown of the monarchs of the Territories of Nicaustra VII, and upon your shoulders now rests the fate of your people. Go in peace, and may peace be a hallmark of your reign."

The applause of the people in praise of their new king ricocheted off the walls of the grand hall, filling it with sounds of exuberant joy that lasted for at least ten minutes. When those assembled had finally calmed down, the officiator put the scroll he had been reading from back onto the table and picked up a new one, then faced the crowd once more.

"Throughout the known history of Nicaustra VII, monarchs have reigned in many different states. Some have reigned alone. Some have chosen new partners to share their reign once they have ascended. Some have chosen to share their reign with one consort and one alone. His Majesty John Collins has chosen to share his reign with a new consort. He has taken her as his wife, and has made the decision to care for her children as if they were from his own blood. Your Majesty, please call forward your consort."

John nodded and rose from the throne. "Gentlemen of the Monarch Council, open the doors and allow your future queen to enter! People of Nicaustra VII and assembled guests, rise in honor of the future queen of the Territories of Nicaustra VII!"

The Monarch Council walked to the closed doors of the grand hall, opened them, and then walked back to their places at the front of the room. The trumpets sounded again, and a procession made up of the ladies of the court entered just as solemnly as the males before them had. Following them were the ladies of the Queen's Council, and then came Elizabeth and the twins, who grinned and waved at their baby sister as they passed her. Then there was a striking of a bow against strings, and a group of violins proclaimed Sara's arrival in the grand hall.

There was a collective gasp from everyone in the room as Sara walked slowly forward. Her long hair was down around her shoulders, covering what the white gown she wore had left bare. The gown was made of the same silk as John's suit, and sparkled like sunlight thanks to the myriad diamonds that covered the gown's skirt that flared out just below Sara's waist. The sleeves were slashed open to show her arms, and around her neck, shining on the chain John had given her, was her great-grandmother's wedding ring. "Look at your momma," Trip whispered to Rosa, holding her up so she could see. "Doesn't she look beautiful?" Rosa gurgled and smiled in response.

Sara paused at the bottom of the steps as John had done before her, her children at her sides, her face glowing with pleasure at the sound of the rapturous applause filling the room. She turned her head briefly and winked at Trip and Rosa, then faced the officiator, ready to play her part.

"Sara Callahan Rhodes Collins, you have been chosen as consort to the monarchy of the Territories of Nicaustra VII by your marriage to our king. I ask you now, as I asked your husband and countless before you, is it your wish to become queen consort of the Territories of Nicaustra VII?"

"It is," Sara said confidently.

The same ceremony that crowned her husband was repeated, with Sara taking the left-hand throne and being asked again. But when it was time for the officiator to crown her, John stopped him. Gently taking the glittering gold tiara in his own hands, he placed it on Sara's head himself. "Let it be known by all assembled that on this day, Sara Callahan Rhodes Collins has accepted the crown of the consorts of the Territories of Nicaustra VII," he said. He turned to his wife and kissed her hand. "And may our reign be as happy and as peaceful and as long as I hope our marriage will be."

Sara blushed. "And may that be as long as we both shall live, in the words of the old ceremony," she said clearly.

"Please rise, Your Majesty," the officiator said. John helped Sara to her feet, and the two of them stood hand in hand, smiling at each other.

"I now present to you the new monarchy of the Territories of Nicaustra VII: His Majesty King John Collins, and Her Majesty Queen Sara Collins," the officiator boomed. "Long may they reign!" The sounds of cheering and applause were so numerous that they echoed off the walls long after the assembled guests had made their way to the coronation banquet.

Hours later, when the celebrations had stopped and the palace was clearing out, Sara made her way to the helipad where the shuttles taking the crews of Enterprise and Columbia back to their ships, carrying Rosa with her. She rolled her eyes at the Enterprise crew as they all bowed and curtsied.

"Oh cut it out, all of you," she said, amusement in her voice. "Or I'll have all of you banished."

"It's just funny, that's all," Hoshi said. "I mean, you're a QUEEN now. You're supposed to do that stuff, and you hate it."

"I know," Sara said, wrinkling her nose. "I think I may try and have it outlawed. I'm not sure yet."

"Have what outlawed?" Trip asked, hearing the last part of the conversation and wandering over.

"She's going to try and get bowing and curtseying to the queen outlawed," Hoshi said with a giggle. She waved goodbye to Rosa, then jogged over to the shuttle

"Good luck with that," Trip said with a grin. He looked down at Rosa. "I guess this is goodbye, little girl."

Sara handed Rosa to Trip. "You'll see her soon," she promised. "You better, anyways. I'll be very annoyed if you get yourself killed during this war. We've lost too many people already."

Trip looked at the little girl in his arms, and knew there was only one way he could answer. "I'll come back. For her, and for you. For the kids too. I promise." He kissed Rosa and handed her back to Sara. "You be good for your momma, little girl. I don't want to hear that you've given her a hard time." Rosa gurgled and started whimpering, then burped and giggled.

Sara chuckled. "Just like her father," she teased. She looked at Trip with a wistful smile on her face. Her oldest friend, the father of her child, and one of the best people she had ever known. "Thank you," she said. "For Rosa. And for everything else you've done. I'll never forget it."

"Same," Trip said, choking up a little. Gone was the scared little girl his sister had saved on the playground those long years ago, the timid young girl who had avoided most people in school, and the scared young ensign who had bravely stared him down in his worst moment. In her place was a confident woman, the mother of his child, and a queen. He'd done his job; he'd kept her safe, he'd protected her. Now, his job was done.

Behind him he heard Malcolm yell that it was time to go. "Time to go," he said.

Sara nodded. "Time to go," she echoed. She stood on her toes and kissed Trip gently on the cheek. "We'll all be waiting for you. I promise." Sara backed up to give the shuttlepods room to take off, and held Rosa close to protect her from the dust.

The last thing Trip saw before the shuttlepod door closing behind him was his friend, Queen Sara Callahan Rhodes Collins, and their daughter Rosa, waving goodbye. Just as he had the day before, they were letting him go.


	22. Epilogue

Epilogue – Christmas 2161

"Right this way, please. Her Majesty has been waiting for you."

The first thing that Trip noticed was that the palace grounds hadn't changed much at all in the four years since Sara and John's coronation. He'd expected all sorts of cosmetic changes once Sara took over, but every time he'd visited since then, he'd been shocked at how utterly the same the grounds looked, with the exception of a few gardens here and there. Inside, however, one could see that a family had set up shop. Sara and John's initials appeared on tapestries and walls throughout the palace, a family portrait that had recently been completed hung prominently in the entrance hall, and there was a sense of easygoing glee that was undoubtedly the work of the engaging and happy young monarchs.

From what Trip and Hoshi had read in Starfleet dispatches and letters from Sara since her coronation, the pair were universally loved by their people, and it surprised neither of them to hear from old Thomas, the faithful member of the King's Guardians who had been injured when his trade barge was attacked near the end of the war, that this was due in no small part to an unprecedented willingness on the part of their young queen and her lively brood of children to entertain villagers and their children in her chambers and in the village itself.

A sound of loud laughter echoed down the hallway to them, and the footman opened a door and gestured for Trip, Hoshi, and their little girl to enter. Once inside, the source of the laughter became immediately obvious; the room was filled with Sara's children, all playing some kind of tagging game and loudly chasing each other around the room.

It was amazing to Trip how Sara's children had grown in four years. The twins were teenagers, nearly 15 years old. Charlie was planning on joining Starfleet, and James-as he preferred to be known now-had decided to hold on to his childhood dream of becoming a police officer like his great-great-grandmother had been. Both planned to return to Earth as soon as they turned 18 in order to pursue their dreams, something that wasn't as far off as Sara liked it to be, and she freely admitted that she would miss her firstborn sons when they were gone.

Elizabeth, four years old at her mother's coronation, was now eight. Her former shyness had disappeared as she aged, revealing her to be a bright and engaging young girl who never hesitated to include someone in a game or play and loved reading stories to her younger siblings. She was running away from her two year old brother Alan, named for Sara's new father in law and born on Sara and John's wedding anniversary; an adorable, chubby little toddler who had inherited his father's brown hair and was chasing his sister on the unsteady feet all toddlers have had since the dawn of time.

And then, out of the corner of his eye, Trip saw her. She had been hiding under a table on the other side of the room, but crawled out and grabbed Elizabeth's ankle as she ran past the table. Elizabeth stopped just long enough for Alan to pounce on her and yell "GOT YOU" before tugging on his other older sister's hand. Out from under the table emerged his Rosa, now a strong and healthy four year old, her hair darkened from the bright red it had been at birth to a pretty burgundy shade that suited the slightly pale complexion she had inherited from her mother.

Slowly her head turned towards the door, and her face brightened with a smile that undoubtedly had "Tucker" written all over it. "DADDY!" she yelled, running full-speed towards them. Trip caught her mid-stride and picked her up, kissing her on the cheek as she giggled. "Hi Daddy!"

"Hello yourself," Trip said happily. "Are you all behaving?"

"I think so," Rosa said innocently. "We're playing mostly."

"Where's your momma?"

"She's feeding Roger," Rosa said, playing with the pips on Trip's collar. "She said she'd be right back and that Jimmy was in charge. I think maybe that was a bad idea."

"Well, you haven't broken anything yet, have you?"

"I don't think we did..."

"I'm sure your mother will find it if you did," Hoshi said, holding her arms out to her stepdaughter. Rosa immediately switched parents to hug Hoshi. "You're getting so big! How old are you now?"

"I'm four Aunt Hoshi," Rosa said, holding up four fingers. "Like this many."

"I'm this many," said a voice down around Hoshi's legs. Rosa looked down and saw her half-sister Toshiko staring happily up at her, holding three fingers in the air.

"TOSHIE!" Rosa squealed, reaching towards the ground. Hoshi put her down and smiled as the two small girls hugged each other. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too Rosie!" Tosh, as she was frequently called, said as she hugged Rosa tightly. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"Uncle Jon and Aunt Erika had a baby!"

"Really?" Rosa said, looking surprised.

Tosh nodded. "Her name is Serena."

"Cool!" Rosa said, clapping her hands.

"I got to see her at the hospital after she was born," Tosh said proudly. "She's too little to play with yet though. Right Mommy?"

Hoshi smiled and nodded. "Right now, yes. She's just brand new, so you have to be careful."

"That's OK," Rosa said, shrugging off the slight disappointment that the baby was too small to be any fun just yet. "You can play with Roger. He's big enough. He can crawl now."

As if he'd heard his name, the doors opened and a small boy, only about six months old, crawled speedily into the room, laughing loudly. Behind him, wearing the exasperated look of new mothers everywhere but laughing at her clever child, came Sara. Her hair was down, and longer than either Trip or Hoshi could remember, and her face still bore the plumpness of her most recent pregnancy, but in four years, she seemingly hadn't aged a day.

"Roger Jonathan Collins, you come back here right now!" she was yelling, trying in vain to catch her son, who crawled over to Charlie and immediately reached into the air to be picked up.

"Got him!" Charlie said triumphantly, picking his baby brother up and tickling him. "I got a Roger, I got a Roger." The baby laughed and squirmed in his older brother's arms before being handed over to their mother.

"You silly little man," Sara said affectionately, kissing her youngest child on top of his head. "You're just as bad as your father, you are."

"I didn't know John could crawl that fast too," Trip joked, making sure he was loud enough for Sara to hear.

Sure enough, Sara looked up immediately and smiled. "He's just as bad as his uncle, too," she teased back, walking over to them. "Rosa, sweetie, how about you and Tosh go play, all right?" The two little girls grinned at each other and immediately wandered off to the table where Rosa had been hiding before. Their mothers groaned as they watched them shimmy under the tablecloth and disappear.

"I keep telling Tosh that tables are not forts, but SOMEBODY keeps encouraging her," Hoshi said with a laugh, throwing a sideways glare at Trip.

"What? I'm encouraging her imagination!" he said with a grin. Roger laughed and squirmed again. "See? He agrees with me!"

"He's six months old and likes to pick his nose," Sara said. "As much as I love him, I don't think he's the best ally to have in this argument, Captain." She put extra emphasis on the word "Captain," knowing that Trip would instantly realize she was teasing him.

She was not disappointed. "Not funny, Your Majesty," Trip responded, exaggerating "Your Majesty" as best as he could. Hoshi rolled her eyes and laughed at them.

"It's like nothing's changed," she said with a smile, hugging Sara and Roger tightly, then pulling away to take a closer look at Sara's youngest child. "He's getting big," she commented. "And where did all that hair come from? He didn't have that when he was born!"

"I guess his hair grows like mine," Sara said, kissing her son. "Fast and unto the laws of no one."

Roger cocked his head sideways and stared at Hoshi, then held his arms out and kicked the air. "I think he wants his auntie to hold him," Sara laughed, handing her son to Hoshi, who immediately wandered off with him in her arms, cooing quietly at him.

Trip wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Now look what you've done," he said, pretending to be upset. "She's gonna want to take him home when we leave, and I'm gonna have to be the one that tells her no."

"I get the feeling that I'm supposed to be sorry, but I'm not," Sara said mischievously.

"So, Roger Jonathan, eh?" Trip said, watching Hoshi play with the baby. "I get Jonathan, but why Roger?"

"…what's wrong with Roger?" Sara asked suspiciously.

"Oh nothing," Trip said innocently. "Except for the fact that it's an awful name to stick a kid with. You might as well have named him Chester."

"Oh screw you," Sara said, sticking her tongue out at Trip. "Roger's a fine name."

"Only if your kid is going to be a drummer."

"And I would be proud of him if he was. Anyways, it's a family name. John's paternal grandfather is named Roger. Or did you forget that, since I know we introduced you to him the last time you were here on leave, and you two spent hours talking about how to make the perfect bottle of bourbon?"

Trip turned red with embarrassment. "Yeah, I may or may not have completely forgotten about that…"

Sara laughed and shook her head. "You really ARE a bonehead, aren't you?" she said affectionately. "I fear for our daughter's intelligence and sanity in the future with genes like yours making up half of hers." She paused for a moment, and then continued. "But in all seriousness, I've missed you. I'm glad the three of you were able to make it here for Christmas, since neither set of grandparents were."

"I thought that was pretty weird when Hoshi told me, to be honest. Didn't realize Scotland was that much of a Christmas destination."

"Let's be one hundred percent honest," Sara said. "My dad and Alexander aren't going for the history, and neither are Mom and Katie."

"They're going for the booze," they said at the same time.

Trip chuckled. "All these years later and we can still finish each other's sentences."

Sara smiled. "Some things never change," she said. "Nice to have a few things that don't."

"So, do I get a hug, or am I going to have to order you to give me one?" Trip asked after a few moments of silence.

Sara laughed again and hugged her old friend tightly. "I wouldn't follow the order anyways," she said. "I'm a civilian now, remember? Also, I'm a queen, and I make the rules."

Trip ruffled Sara's hair affectionately, grinning down at her. "There any rule against that?" he asked wickedly, know that the one thing Sara hated was people messing up her hair.

True to form, Sara pulled back and gently smacked his hand. "How many years have to go by before you finally understand: not the hair! Never the hair!" she asked, smoothing it back into place.

"I feel like I should be sorry…" Trip started, but he was cut off by a shriek from Elizabeth.

"Mom, Uncle Trip, help! Tosh and Rosa are teaching Alan how to scare people from under the table and they keep grabbing my leg when I walk past them!"

Sara laughed and shook her head. "Shall we go teach the little miscreants a lesson, Captain?" she asked.

"I think we should, Your Majesty."

"At least nobody will be able to say that this Christmas was uneventful."

"True. There's just one thing I'm worried about."

"What's that?"

Trip grinned. "What our children are going to do when they realize we hid the presents on the shuttlepod."

Sara laughed. "That, my friend, is an adventure for another day." And they walked off towards the table where Rosa, Tosh, and Alan were hiding, bracing themselves for their next adventure together: getting their children to settle down.


End file.
